Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has been given a two-year suspended sentence over a car incident in Australia which killed his wife, fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins.
Dennis pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of creating the likelihood of harm, after Hoskins was struck by the car he was driving during a fight outside the couple’s Adelaide home in 2023.
A judge said Dennis had disregarded his wife’s safety, but was not criminally responsible for her death.
Hoskins’ parents spoke outside the court after sentencing, saying they were “glad” the case was over and they hoped the family could “move on”.
The court had previously heard that Dennis and Hoskins were arguing about kitchen renovations shortly before the incident occurred, and Hoskins had held on to the car her husband was driving as he tried to leave.
While sentencing Dennis, Judge Ian Press said calling the incident 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”.
He said he understood that Dennis had tried to “de-escalate the argument” by driving off, but said it did not excuse his actions.
“It was your obligation to stop the vehicle when driving that vehicle became dangerous to her physical wellbeing,” he said, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“That you did not stop because you wanted to leave, is a very poor reason for not doing so.”
Hoskins was taken to hospital after being struck but later died of her injuries.
Dennis was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death and driving without due care and pleaded not guilty, but he later admitted to a single, lesser charge.
Dennis’ lawyer had argued that he had no intention of harming his wife and either did not know or was “reckless to the fact” that Hoskins was holding onto the car.
She told an earlier hearing that despite his “stoic” front, Dennis felt a “deep, deep grief”.
On Wednesday, Judge Press emphasised that Dennis was not criminally responsible for causing Hoskins’ death, and accepted he was remorseful.
“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,” Judge Press said.
In victim impact statements read to the court last month, Hoskins’ mother said that while she accepted Dennis wouldn’t have intentionally hurt her daughter, his temper was his “downfall” and “needs to be addressed”.
Speaking outside court, Peter and Amanda Hoskins said they missed their daughter “terribly”.
“She was someone really special,” Mr Hoskins said.
He said the family was yet to receive an apology from Dennis, but expected it “will come with time”.
“It’s now time for us to move on, which would be Melissa’s expectations of us,” Mr Hoskins said, adding it was important for the couple to have a “well-mannered relationship” with Dennis going forward.
“There are two young children caught up in this tragedy… Clearly, we want to continue to be an integral part of [the] children’s lives and their future.”
Hoskins was a world champion cyclist in the Australian team pursuit in 2015, and a two-time Olympian. Her death triggered a wave of tributes from around the world.
She and Dennis married in 2018.
Dennis retired at the end of the 2023 season after a cycling career in which he won a silver medal team pursuit at the London 2012 Olympics and a road time trial bronze at Tokyo 2020. He also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
