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