Source : ABC NEWS
Former professional cyclist Rohan Dennis has been handed a suspended sentence over an incident which resulted in the death of his Olympian wife Melissa Hoskins outside their suburban Adelaide home in December 2023.
Dennis, 34, previously pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of creating likelihood of harm over the death of Ms Hoskins, who was struck by a car driven by her husband, outside the couple’s Medindie home, in Adelaide’s inner north.
Prosecutors dropped a charge of dangerous driving causing death and an aggravated charge of driving without due care.
Rohan Dennis receives a two-year suspended sentence over the death of Melissa Hoskins. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
Dennis was handed a 17-month prison term — but that sentence was suspended on a two-year good-behaviour bond, meaning he will not serve time in jail.
He has also been banned from driving for five years.
In the District Court this morning, Judge Ian Press said that to describe what had happened as “tragic” would not do justice to the incident.
Melissa Hoskins pictured at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne in 2012. (AAP Image: Joe Castro)
He reiterated Dennis was not criminally responsible for causing Ms Hoskins’s death.
“To describe the consequences of the events on 30 December 2023 as tragic really does not do justice to the grief, the anguish and the turmoil those events have brought into the lives of those who knew and loved your wife,” Judge Press told Dennis.
“I accept you have a sense of responsibility for all that occurred. I accept you have anguished over what could have been different if you had acted in some other way.“
Dennis drove 75 metres with wife on car bonnet
Judge Press said the couple had argued over home renovations on the night of the incident.
He said the pair had agreed in the past that, because of the “single-mindedness” which had made them highly successful athletes, Dennis would leave if they argued so they could both calm down.
“That is what you intended to do … [but] your wife, however, jumped onto and lay on the bonnet of your vehicle in an apparent attempt to stop you from leaving as she wanted to continue to discuss the issue,” Judge Press said.
He said while it was “impossible to be precise”, Dennis continued to drive down the lane for about 75 metres at a speed of about 20 kilometres per hour.
“This act forms part of the offence. Driving at any speed when a person is on the bonnet is an inherently risky and dangerous act,”
he said.
He said Dennis slowed down and Ms Hoskins got off the bonnet and continued walking next to the car, before opening the door while the car was still moving.
Emergency services at the Medindie scene where Melissa Hoskins was struck. (ABC News)
Judge Press said Dennis shut the door before accelerating the car in “what appears to be an attempt to drive away from her”.
“You did so in circumstances in which Ms [Hoskins] was very close to the car and you knew that,” he said.
He said it was the act of driving while Ms Hoskins was on the bonnet that created “a risk of her being harmed, and you knew that but continued to drive anyway”.
“What happened next does not form the basis of the charge,” he said.
Judge Ian Press says Rohan Dennis was not criminally responsible for causing Melissa Hoskins’s death. (ABC News)
Judge Press said it was “unbeknownst” to Dennis that Ms Hoskins had “held onto the car” as he accelerated down the street, and that Ms Hoskins then came off the vehicle.
“There is no allegation that you knew, or even contemplated, the likelihood that your wife was still running next to the car as you continued to drive down the street for only a matter of a second or two,” he said.
He said Dennis then immediately stopped the car and attended to his wife.
“You are not to be sentenced for causing the death of [Ms Hoskins], you are not charged with causing it,” he said.
Prosecutor Tali Costi ahead of Dennis’s sentencing in South Australia’s District Court. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
But he said it could be difficult to “disconnect” Dennis’s criminal acts from what followed.
“That you have questioned yourself as to what could have been different if you had acted differently only reinforces that fact,” he said.
“I accept that a stoic presentation does not necessarily mean you do not feel a sense of guilt for all that happened.
“Whilst there could be no disputing your driving, given it was captured on CCTV, I accept you cooperated with police and had told them what had happened.
“It was your obligation to stop the vehicle when driving that vehicle became dangerous to her physical wellbeing.
“That you did not stop because you wanted to leave is a very poor reason for not doing so.”
Amanda and Peter Hoskins speak outside court after Rohan Dennis was sentenced. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
Judge Press said he had considered the victim impact statements read to the court, but that he would not try to describe the “immeasurable loss” Ms Hoskins’s loved ones felt.
“Nothing I could say would adequately or appropriately summarise the impact the events of that night have had on them,” he said.
Dennis’s defence barrister Jane Abbey KC arriving at court ahead of the sentencing. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
The judge made reference to Dennis’s successful cycling career.
“Some of the personality traits that you used to your advantage when competing at an elite level may not always be appropriate in other settings,” Judge Press said.
The judge said there was “a need to deter others driving a vehicle in volatile situations from doing anything other than exercising great care”.
He said Dennis was now the sole carer for the couple’s two young children, and it was important he could continue to care for them.
‘We miss Melissa terribly’
Dennis was sitting throughout most of the proceedings, but was asked to stand to hear the penalty imposed.
Ms Hoskins’s mother Amanda was audibly upset inside the courtroom, and she and her husband Peter later wiped away tears while addressing the media outside.
Amanda and Peter Hoskins held hands as they left court on Wednesday. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
They said they were “glad” the matter had been finalised, and that the case had been shortened by Dennis’s guilty plea.
“It’s now time for us to move on, which would be Melissa’s expectations of us. Clearly, we want to continue to be an integral part of their children’s lives and their future,” Mr Hoskins said.
“How we do this in a meaningful way, and a relevant way, will take time as we refocus on our lives going forward without Melissa.
“With respect to Rohan — as hard as it’s going to be — it’s important that we also have a well-mannered relationship with him.
“We would like to thank everybody who has supported us, and taken time out to check on us and our family, during what has been, and continues to be, a difficult time.
“We miss Melissa terribly. She was someone really special.“
Former professional cyclist Melissa Hoskins died in December 2023. (Facebook)
Mr Hoskins said it was important the family took “time to process” what had happened before focusing on moving forward.
He said Dennis was yet to apologise to the Hoskins family.
“I’m sure that will come with time, I think it’s difficult for everybody,” Mr Hoskins said.
He said jailing Dennis would have had an impact on the couple’s two young children, and “wasn’t something that we were pursuing”.
“We’ve got to remember there’s two people caught up in this tragedy … who have lost their mum,”
he said.
“For them to then go and lose their dad … I don’t think that would be ideal at all.
“Their health and wellbeing is more important than a period of incarceration.”
Police and Melissa Hoskins’s family arrive at court for Rohan Dennis’s sentence hearing. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
Members of Ms Hoskins’s family have previously spoken of their devastation at losing the mother-of-two, describing her death as “unfair and tragic” and telling the court that Dennis’s temper was his “downfall” and that it needed “to be addressed”.
The offence to which Dennis pleaded guilty carried a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment and a five-year loss of licence.
But the prosecution and defence had previously agreed a suspended sentence would be appropriate in this case.
Editor’s note (14/5/2025): An earlier version of this story stated that Rohan Dennis had been given a two-year suspended sentence. He was handed a 17-month suspended sentence, with a good behaviour bond of two years.
Look back at how the proceedings unfolded.
That ends the live coverage of this morning’s sentencing of Rohan Dennis over the incident which caused the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins.
The key outcomes from this morning’s court proceedings are as follows:
- Dennis’s sentence was suspended in favour of a two-year good-behaviour bond, meaning he will not serve time in jail, and he has been banned from driving for five years.
- Judge Ian Press said Dennis had “demonstrated disregard” for his wife’s safety, but that he had not been charged “with being criminally responsible for all of the events” surrounding her death.
- Ms Hoskins’s father Peter said his family had not wanted Dennis to go to jail, but added that he had not apologised to them.
- Mr Hoskins and wife Amanda made emotional comments outside court, including that they “miss Melissa terribly” and that they now want to move on.
