Grief-stricken mother opens up after 20-year battle to get justice for her son

A grief-stricken mother has opened up about the ‘purgatory’ her young family endured after waiting 20 years for the man responsible for her son’s death to be brought to justice.

Rian Strathdee was six years old and sleeping in the back of his family’s station wagon when a Kenworth truck driven by Allan Michael Dyson crashed into it.

The collision, which happened after 9.30pm on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney in November 2004, caused the Subaru to spin out and roll down an embankment until it landed 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 but was eventually located by police 18 years later when he was arrested in Queensland, where he was undetected by investigators almost two decades later in October 2022 and extradited to NSW.

After initially denying any involvement, the 61-year-old eventually admitted driving during a criminal trial at Goulburn District Court.

He was found guilty in August of one charge of dangerous driving occasioning death and two charges of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Rian’s mother, Jasmine Payget, told a hearing in the NSW District Court on Friday that Dyson’s decision not to quit deprived her family of closure.

“Being in purgatory could have ended a long time ago,” she said.

The collision, which happened after 9.30pm on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney, left the car on its roof. Rian tragically died at the scene

Ms Payget said before the crash she was a happy young mother of two boys and was halfway through reading the Harry Potter books to Rian.

“At the end of their day, my youngest son was dead, my eldest son seriously injured in hospital, my husband in another hospital with a broken neck,” Ms Payget said.

‘I was devastated, shocked and in disbelief.’

Ms Payget described hit-run crimes as ‘particularly cruel’ to the victims, saying it had further increased her family’s distress.

“The hit-run made it impossible to get an idea of ​​what was happening,” Ms Payget told the court.

“It has confused our family because there was always an unfinished part to this terrible story.”

In a seven-day trial, Allan Michael Dyson (centre) was found guilty of one charge of dangerous driving occasioning death, and two charges of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay questioned whether Dyson had ever fully accepted responsibility for the crash and come to terms with the damage he had caused.

“The perpetrator knew he had collided with the Subaru,” Ms Keay said.

‘It doesn’t matter that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome if Mr Dyson had stopped and helped.

“It’s part of assisting the investigation, but also part of providing assistance to people who have been killed or injured and respecting their dignity.”

Lawyer Harry Maarraoui said it was admitted the crash was the result of more than a moment of inattention by Dyson, but said it was “not far off”.

During the trial, Dyson’s legal counsel had tried to shift the blame for the collision to Ms Payget, who was driving the Subaru.

It was suggested that she was driving too slowly and had not properly checked her mirrors before entering the highway, an argument that the jury ultimately rejected.

Rian Strathdee was sleeping in the back seat of his family’s station wagon when tragedy struck

Ms Payget told jurors she felt the car ‘filling with light’ moments before impact and at the same time heard the sound of a truck’s horn.

Rian’s father told the court he heard a crash and a bang before he felt the car fly into the air.

The couple blacked out and woke up to find themselves hanging upside down in the vehicle.

Another witness driving nearby and listening to his UHF radio heard someone with a strong Australian accent say, “I picked out the Subaru. Now they are in the paddock.’

Prosecutors argued that the man speaking was Dyson, a claim he denied.

Judge Ross Hudson will hand down sentencing on November 22.