A Melbourne man facing carjacking charges involving a mother and her young children has been warned by a magistrate that his attempt to minimize the severity of the alleged incident is unlikely to be accepted by the court.

Ryan Meuleman, 28, is alleged to have attempted to steal a vehicle while the woman’s three-year-old twins were inside. The incident reportedly occurred on May 3 in Pakenham, Victoria, outside a laundromat where the mother was sitting in an idling car. Police say Meuleman, dressed only in underwear and a hoodie, jumped into the driver’s seat and a struggle ensued over the vehicle’s gear stick before Meuleman drove it a short distance. The woman’s husband intervened after hearing her cries for help, forcibly removing Meuleman from the vehicle until police arrived. CCTV footage captured the event.

Magistrate Samantha Seoud raised concerns at a court hearing on Tuesday, indicating that the use of force and the presence of children in the carjacking made the matter potentially too serious for the lower court’s jurisdiction. “It’s not good enough to turn up and say it’s just a carjacking with two kids in the back. It’s very serious,” she said.

Meuleman is expected to plead guilty to burglary and theft charges related to separate incidents, with his lawyer Tom Smedley describing the offences as “opportunistic, brazen and unsophisticated.” Smedley noted that the value of the items taken in the unrelated burglary was low and emphasized that Meuleman had spent around five months in custody since being charged.

The lawyer further argued that the carjacking charge was not based on violence against a person, contending that any physical struggle was limited to the vehicle’s gear stick and not the occupants. He also attributed his client’s behaviour to deteriorating mental health and drug use, stating Meuleman is currently undergoing detoxification in custody.

Prior to the carjacking incident, Meuleman was already on bail facing commercial burglary and theft charges. The court has adjourned the matter until next week to allow for further proceedings.

Meuleman gained public attention as a teenager in 2013 when he sustained serious injuries after a collision involving a vehicle driven by Catherine Andrews, wife of then opposition leader Dan Andrews, who was also in the car at the time. The collision remains a subject of ongoing legal disputes, with Meuleman pursuing defamation proceedings against the Andrews couple over a 2024 media statement. Both Catherine and Dan Andrews deny any wrongdoing and have criticized the defamation claim.