‘Bike boy’ suing former premier Dan Andrews to plead guilty to burglary and theft

The man known as “bike boy” for suing former premier Daniel Andrews after he was injured in a crash as a child will plead guilty to burglary and theft.

Ryan Meuleman’s lawyer Savannah Westwood told Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday that her client intended to enter pleas of guilty, to charges arising out of an incident on January 27, though details of the allegations were not aired.

The 28-year-old was expected to face court via video link from Marngoneet Correctional Centre but did not appear, with the hearing proceeding in his absence.

Westwood said her client intended to contest separate charges involving allegations of breaching bail and carjacking a woman as she sat in her vehicle at Pakenham late on May 3.

No application for bail was made, though Meuleman is expected to make a bid for freedom later this month after earlier indicating he wanted to be released to partake in rehab.

Magistrate Gregory McNamara ordered the accused man return to court again in September.

Meuleman launched defamation proceedings against Andrews and his wife, Catherine, in November last year, after he was badly injured in a collision with the Andrews family’s 4WD in 2013.

Andrews, who was the 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.

The couple issued a joint statement more than a decade later in response to news articles about a report that alleged authorities engaged in a “covert cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash”.

Meuleman alleged this was defamatory, claiming the pair had implied he lied about the circumstances of the collision and that he was using legal action to get money from false claims.

In 2024, Meuleman settled a separate case against his former lawyers, Slater & Gordon, over claims they failed to properly investigate the incident.

Last year, The Age revealed a group of high-profile Liberals and Victorian philanthropists had donated more than $230,000 to Meuleman’s legal campaign against Andrews.

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