Earlier this month, Bike Boy, a 6-epsiode podcast was launched that details how former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and his wife Catherine caused the car-and-bike crash that almost killed then 15 year old Ryan Mueleman and then scrambled to cover up their culpability. The podcast was released on January 7, marking the 13th anniversary of the fateful crash. The podcast is based on evidence, witness accounts and statements, and official documents; no assertions or accusations are made but it adds to earlier reports, including ones in our sister blog, & here that reveal what really happened.
Episode 5 features the first ever interview with Ryan Meuleman. In 13 years, police have never approached Ryan for a statement or a full interview. “Yeah, at that last second, I knew I was just in for it. It’s been absolute hell. It really, really takes a toll on your life.
If everyone keeps fighting the good fight, you know, I’ll be able to push through,” Ryan says.
Written and hosted by journalist, Rohan Wenn, produced by Jackson Moon, with special commentary by former cop turned private investigator, Scott Hanley, the Bike Boy podcast’s first revelation is that Daniel Andrews waited six and a half minutes before calling an ambulance.
“we’ve hit him”
“we’ve hit him”“At the centre of this scandal is the shifting of blame,” says Wenn at the start of the climactic Episode 6. In his initial emergency call, Daniel Andrews admitted whoever was driving was at fault. Andrews said “We’ve turned right into Ribby Street, and a kid’s come flying through on the bike path, and we’ve hit him.”
Wenn continues: “But by the end of that day, Daniel Andrews had changed his story, and the police appeared to be playing along.
Ever since, the couple has been trying to convince us all that Ryan ran into the side of their car, even though there was no damage to the side of the SUV.”
According to the never-before-seen emails and paperwork that Scott and his team has uncovered, only one aspect of the crash has ever been looked at, and that is why police failed to conduct a breath test on the day.
Every single other failure and irregularity has been ignored.
“They never looked at the circumstances of the crash.
They never looked at what wasn’t done following the crash, and in the weeks and days that obviously followed.
And even the breath testing matter wasn’t actually investigated by IBAC.
You see, IBAC decided not to look at the breath testing issue themselves.
Instead, IBAC outsourced the investigation back to Victoria Police.
So it wasn’t an independent investigation.
The police were investigating the police.
A senior police officer simply spoke with those two young coppers, Sage and Ward, who you’ll remember, both blamed each other.
And that was the end of the matter.
We have spoken to a high-ranking police officer who was one of the people involved in the subsequent investigation, and he’s told us that it was just the PBT, just the preliminary breath test.
So, after six episodes, what do we know.
We know that all the evidence shows the SUV cut the corner at speed on the wrong side of the road, hitting Ryan head-on.
We know Daniel Andrews admitted the SUV hit Ryan and then changed his story some time later that day.
We learned that the couple waited an estimated six and a half minutes before calling for an ambulance for Ryan, and that Daniel Andrews had left the scene by the time he made that call.
We know Daniel Andrews drove the SUV away from the crash scene before it could be properly inspected by police, even though it had a smashed windscreen and a flat tyre.
We’ve learned that police never breath-tested Catherine or Daniel Andrews after the crash, and that all up, Victoria Police committed 35 serious procedural errors that day and in the days that followed.
We’ve learned that the only statements ever taken by police about the crash were from Catherine and Daniel Andrews, and that key witnesses, who contradict what the Andrews say, have never been asked for statements by Victoria Police.
And we’ve learned that Victoria’s anti-corruption body, IBAC, never did their own investigation into the crash, and that IBAC outsourced its analysis of the breath-testing issue back to Victoria Police.
It’s no wonder Ryan Muehlman, the bike boy, wants the investigation reopened.
Like Ryan and his family, Scott is hoping newly appointed Chief Commissioner Mike Bush, who is originally from New Zealand, will finally apply the law properly in the state of Victoria, Australia.