Victoria Police confirms it has no plans to reopen Daniel and Catherine Andrews car crash probe

Victoria Police has confirmed it won’t reopen its investigation into the 2013 crash between Daniel Andrews’ family car and a teenage cyclist.

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews with his wife Catherine. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Victoria Police has confirmed it won’t reopen its investigation into the 2013 crash between Daniel Andrews’s family car and a teenage cyclist, after a new review commissioned by the cyclist’s lawyers claimed the force engaged in “an overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash”.

Ryan Meuleman was seriously injured when he was 15 years old in a collision with the Ford Territory driven by former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’s wife, Catherine, on the Mornington Peninsula on January 7, 2013.

The couple maintained their car stopped and turned right from a stationary position before it was T-boned by Mr Meuleman’s bike.

A new report by the state’s former assistant commissioner for traffic and operations, Raymond Shuey, has claimed it was “most probable” the Andrews’s car was travelling “at speed” on the incorrect side of the road when it hit Mr Meuleman, The Herald Sun has reported.

Shuey, who died in August after completing his report, asserted the police investigation, which supported the Andrews family’s version of the incident, was “deeply flawed” and “contrary to the available evidence”.

Ryan Meuleman was seriously injured in the 2013 crash. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

“The version as provided by Catherine and Daniel Andrews is considered improbable and implausible,” Shuey said.

On Tuesday, a Victoria Police spokesperson said the force had no plans to reopen its investi­gation following publication of the report’s findings. “As has been previously stated, Victoria Police conducted a thorough investigation into this matter, as did IBAC, and all findings were consistent,” they said. “We have no further comment to provide on the matter.”

And late Tuesday it was reported in the Nine papers that the Andrews had issued a statement saying the “so-called report was commissioned by lawyers on behalf of their clients who are seeking money through the courts by suing their former lawyers.”

“We are not a party to this legal action. We did nothing wrong. This matter has been comprehensively and independently investigated and closed by Victoria Police and integrity agencies,” the statement reportedly said.

Shuey’s report asserted that “the propagation of a lie” began when police submitted a report within hours of the crash with the driver named as “Catherine Louise Kesik”, Ms Andrews’s maiden name, according to The Herald Sun.

“This is contrary to the name of Andrews as recorded by police as contemporaneous notes on the form 502, the investigation notes, TAC reports, statements and all other recordings provided,” Shuey claimed.

“It is my opinion that this deception is part of a course of conduct and a component of an overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash.

“Failure by supervisors and reviewers to identify this or seek explanation is inexcusable.”

The report, which was based on Freedom of Information documents, witness statements and Shuey’s reconstruction of the incident, left open the possibility Mr Andrews was behind the wheel and questioned statements given by Mr and Ms Andrews in the weeks following the incident, according to The Herald Sun.

“The statements from both Daniel and Catherine Andrews that their vehicle stopped at Melbourne Road are not consistent with impact consequences, nor the report by (witness) Brad Morgan of the squeal of tyres prior to impact …” Shuey stated.

The report was prepared for Mr Meuleman as part of his claim against his former law firm, Slater & Gordon, that it failed to conduct a proper investigation into the crash and breached its duty of care to him when negotiating his $80,000 compensation payout.

Slater & Gordon has denied the claims.