The teenage boy struck by former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews' car turned to meth and became a criminal after his ordeal, a court has heard.
asserted
court → strike → ordeal
On Tuesday, Ryan Meuleman, now 28 - who sued Andrews after being injured in the 2013 crash - pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court to carjacking, commercial burglary and theft.
asserted
who → sue → carjacking
When asked about his life of crime by police, Meuleman gave a bleak explanation.
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Meuleman → ask → explanation
'If I had a happy life, I wouldn't have an episode or bottled up sadness or anger,' he told detectives after being nabbed for the burglary.
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he → have → burglary
'I blacked out.
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I → black → ?
It's happened a few times in my life...
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It → happen → life
I can't explain it.'
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I → explain → it
His lawyer Tom Smedley told the court the crash with the former Premier's car was the pivotal turning point in Meuleman's life.
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crash → tell → life
The court heard the crash left Meuleman, then 15, with a punctured lung, broken ribs and a ruptured spleen that required a partial splenectomy.
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that → hear → splenectomy
'Ryan identified this period as a significant turning point in his life, and reported that substance use increased following this event,' Mr Smedley said.
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Smedley → identify → event
'Ryan described alcohol and drug use as becoming a way of coping with psychological distress, stating that using substances became normal and eventually became his primary method of managing emotions.'
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using → describe → emotions
Ryan Meuleman's life took a turn to drug addiction, crime and jail after he met the front of Dan Andrews' car as a teenager
Meuleman launched defamation proceedings against Andrews and his wife, Catherine, in November last year, after being badly injured in the collision with the Andrews family’s four-wheel-drive.
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Meuleman → take → drive
Andrews, who was opposition leader at the time, was in the car along with the couple’s three children, while Catherine was in the driver’s seat.
Police cleared the pair of any wrongdoing.
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Police → clear → wrongdoing
The court previously heard the crash saw Meuleman move from using cannabis to methamphetamines.
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Meuleman → hear → methamphetamines
'Substance use has started from a very young and tender age, and has been a problem for him since then,' Mr Smedley said.
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Smedley → start → him
Over the next two years Meuleman found himself living on the streets.
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himself → find → streets
'After leaving school, he became homeless around the age of 17 and remained transient,' Mr Smedley said.
'
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Smedley → leave → 17
It was during that time that his drug addiction became worse, and unsurprisingly, that coincides with the commencement of his criminal priors.
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that → become → priors
'
Dan and Catherine Andrews were cleared by police of any wrongdoing over the 2013 crash
Between 2016 and 2018 Meuleman was placed on a corrections order to perform community work after stealing a car while drunk and homeless.
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Meuleman → clear → car
In the latest incident, the court heard a mother was forced to wrestle Meuleman for the gearstick of her own car, with her two children in the back seat, as he tried to drive off from a suburban laundromat on May 3.
uncertain
he → hear → May
It was just before 10pm when the woman's husband parked behind the Pakenham laundromat, south-east of Melbourne, left the engine running, flicked the boot open and ducked inside.
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husband → park → boot
The court heard Meuleman strolled up to the $50,000 Kia, opened the driver's door and sat down before the mother realised the man behind the wheel was not her husband.
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man → hear → wheel
He looked her in the eye, the court heard, put a hand on the gearstick and began shifting into drive.
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court → look → drive
The court heard the woman grabbed the stick and slammed the car back into park as Meuleman used both hands to overpower her and force it into drive again, leaving blood from his hands smeared on hers.
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Meuleman → hear → hers
When her husband came upon the chaos, he punched Meuleman through the partly open window, ripped open the door, hauled him out and pinned him to the ground at the front of the laundromat until police arrived.
Andrews' car after the collision with Ryan Meuleman on his bicycle
Ryan Meuleman after being struck by the Andrews' car in 2013
The court also heard about an earlier incident at a BP service station in Heathcote, in Victoria's north.
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court → come → north
In that incident Meuleman climbed a ladder to the roof, crept across plasterboard, broke in above the service counter and dropped inside.
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Meuleman → climb → counter
He grabbed a set of keys, but about 20 seconds later anti-theft smoke canisters filled the shop, forcing him to scramble back up through the ceiling.
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canisters → grab → ceiling
Police arrested him the next night as he walked down the main strip.
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he → arrest → strip
Mr Smedley had hoped to see Meuleman avoid a further stint in prison by persuading the court to defer sentencing and place him into a residential rehabilitation facility.
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Meuleman → hop → facility
Meuleman has already spent 156 days behind bars while waiting for his matters to conclude.
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matters → spend → bars
Mr Smedley argued the carjacking offence fell towards the lower end of the range for that type of offending because his client wasn't charged with using violence.
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client → argue → violence
He submitted the car had moved only a very short distance and Meuleman never actually drove away.
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Meuleman → submit → ?
Meuleman's father, Peter Meuleman (pictured), tuned into Tuesday's hearing
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you → picture → Download
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He claimed there was no evidence Meuleman knew the children were in the car.
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children → gain → car
Mr Smedley described the offending as 'brazen' and unsophisticated, and said it occurred amid very poor mental health and drug use.
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it → describe → health
But Magistrate Samantha Seoud refused to defer the sentence, telling Mr Smedley she wanted to see a neuropsychological report on Meuleman and obtain a victim impact statement before even thinking about a sentence.
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she → refuse → sentence
The matter will return to court in December.
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matter → return → December
In 2024, Meuleman settled a separate case against his former lawyers, Slater & Gordon, over claims it failed to properly investigate the 2013 incident.
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it → settle → incident
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