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 was endured after being forced to wait 20 years to see the man responsible for her sons death brought to justice. 

Rian Strathdee was six years old and asleep in the back of his familys station wagon when a Kenworth truck driven by Allan Michael Dyson slammed into it.

The collision, which took place after 9.30pm on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney in November 2004, made the Subaru spin out and roll down an embankment until it landed on its roof.

Rian was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene while his father Laurie Strathdee and another boy in the vehicle were severely injured.

Dyson fled but was finally located by police 18 years later when he was arrested in Queensland where he was not tracked down by investigators nearly two decades later in October 2022 and extradited to NSW.

After initially denying any involvement, the 61-year-old eventually admitted he was behind the wheel during a criminal trial in Goulburn District Court.

He guilty was found guilty on one count of dangerous driving occasioning death and two counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm in August.

Rians mother, Jasmine Payget told a sentence hearing in the NSW District Court on Friday that Dysons decision not to stop robbed her family of closure.

Being in the purgatory that we have been, could have ended a long time ago, she said.

Six-year-old Rian Strathdee died when a truck being driven by Allan Michael Dyson slammed into his familys sedan and sent the vehicle rolling off the road in 2004

The collision, which took place after 9.30pm on the Hume Highway south-west of Sydney, made the car land 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 younger son was dead, my oldest son was severely injured in hospital, my husband in a different hospital with a broken neck, Ms Payget said.

I was utterly devastated, in shock and disbelief.

Ms Payget described hit-run crimes as particularly cruel for victims, saying it had added layers to her familys distress.

The hit-run made it impossible to have a sense of what happened, Ms Payget told the court.

It messed up our family, because there was always an unfinished part up to this terrible story.

A seven day trial found Allan Michael Dyson (centre) guilty of one count of dangerous driving occasioning death and two counts 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 caused.

The offender knew that he had collided with the Subaru, Ms Keay said.

It does not matter that it wouldnt have changed the outcome if Mr Dyson had stopped and assisted.

Its part of assisting in the investigation, as well as providing assistance to people who are killed or injured and to respect their dignity.

Defence barrister Harry Maarraoui said it was conceded the crash resulted from more than a moment of inattention by Dyson, but said it was not far from it.

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

It was suggested she was driving too slowly and had failed to properly check her mirrors before pulling out onto the highway, an argument the jury ultimately rejected.

Rian Strathdee was asleep in the back seat of his familys station wagon when tragedy struck 

Ms Payget told jurors she felt the car fill with light moments before the impact and she simultaneously heard the sound of a truck horn blowing.

Rians father told the court he heard a crash and a bang before feeling the car become airborne.

The couple blacked out and woke 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 have sorted out the Subaru. Now they are in the paddock.

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

Judge Ross Hudson is due to deliver a sentence on November 22.