Rohan Dennis to be sentenced over wife Melissa Hoskin’s death

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Former professional cyclist Rohan Dennis will be sentenced in South Australia today over an incident that caused the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins.

Transcript

00:00Former Olympic cyclist and mother of two Melissa Hoskins died after she was struck by a car which

00:07was driven by her husband and former professional cyclist Rowan Dennis out the front of their

00:13Medindi home in Adelaide's Inner North in December 2023. Late last year Rowan Dennis pleaded guilty

00:19to one aggravated count of creating a likelihood of harm relating to the crash. Prosecutors

00:25previously dropped one charge of causing death by dangerous driving as well as an aggravated charge

00:31of driving without due care. Details about the circumstances leading up to Miss Hoskins' death

00:36and the crash itself have been detailed in court. It previously heard the couple had been arguing about

00:42renovations over kitchen cupboards and that Dennis had tried to remove himself from the situation by

00:47getting into his car when the incident unfolded. The courts heard that while Dennis was not criminally

00:53responsible for the death of Miss Hoskins he either did not know or was reckless to the fact

00:58that she was holding onto the vehicle when he accelerated. Miss Hoskins' family members have

01:03previously detailed their devastation to the court. Her mother said while she accepted Dennis would

01:09never have intentionally hurt her daughter and that she believed it was a tragic accident she also

01:14condemned Dennis' temper saying it was his downfall. The family also said they hadn't received an apology

01:20from Dennis. The offence to which Dennis has pleaded guilty to carries a maximum penalty of seven years

01:26imprisonment but both the defence and the prosecution have agreed that a suspended sentence would be

01:31appropriate in this case and given that Dennis is now the sole carer of the couple's two children but

01:37the exact details of his punishment will be revealed when District Court Judge Ian Press imposes his sentence

01:44later this morning.

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