After nearly 20 years of waiting, the family of a boy who died after their car was thrown off the road by a speeding truck says they have received justice with the driver’s guilty verdict.
Rian Strathdee was six years old and asleep in the back of his family’s station wagon when a Kenworth truck driven by Allan Michael Dyson crashed into it.
The collision, which occurred after 9.30pm in November 2004 on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney, caused the Subaru to spin and roll down an embankment until it ended up on its roof.
Rian was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, while his father Laurie Strathdee and another boy in the vehicle were seriously injured.
Dyson fled and was found by police 18 years later. He was arrested in Queensland in October 2022 and extradited to New South Wales.
The 61-year-old initially denied any involvement but eventually admitted driving during a criminal case at Goulburn District Court.
That trial lasted until Friday, when – after less than two hours of deliberation – a jury found Dyson guilty of one charge of dangerous driving causing death and two charges of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
During the seven-day trial, Dyson’s lawyer attempted to shift blame for the collision to Rian’s mother Jasmine Payget, who was driving the Subaru.
Six-year-old Rian Strathdee died in 2004 when a truck driven by Allan Michael Dyson collided with his family’s sedan, sending the vehicle off the road.
The collision, which occurred after 9.30pm on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney, resulted in the car ending up on its roof. Tragically, Rian died at the scene
It was suggested that she was driving too slowly and that she had forgotten to check her mirrors properly before entering the highway.
The jury rejected these claims and the truck driver is due to begin serving his sentence on October 18.
Rian’s relieved family said in a statement that the outcome is the culmination of nearly 20 years of waiting for justice.
“We love you Rian and we will never forget you,” his parents wrote.
Mr Strathdee said Dyson must finally be held accountable for his actions after “20 years of cowardice, 20 years of denial by the director, 20 years of trying to find an answer, 20 years of pigeonholing our pain”.
But he still couldn’t understand how the truck driver could leave the scene of the fatal and tragic accident and only admit 20 years later that he was the driver.
A seven-day trial found Allan Michael Dyson (centre) guilty of one charge of dangerous driving causing death and two charges of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
Rian Strathdee was asleep in the backseat of his family’s station wagon when disaster struck
Ms Payget said hit-and-run collisions were particularly brutal and added to the grief of losing a child.
During the trial, she told the jury that just before the impact she felt the car “fill with light” and at the same time heard the sound of a truck’s horn.
Mr Strathdee told the court he heard a bang and a crash before he felt the car flying through the air.
The couple fell unconscious and woke up hanging upside down in the car.
Another witness driving nearby and listening on his UHF radio heard someone with a strong Australian accent say, “I’ve got the Subaru sorted. They’re in the paddock now.”
Prosecutors claimed the man speaking was Dyson, but he denied this.
