Rohan Dennis, the former TT world champion, is set to face court within weeks to be sentenced over the incident outside his family home that led to the death of his wife, Melissa Hoskins, almost a year ago.
However, the more serious charges the retired pro cyclist was facing have now been dropped. Dennis is now facing sentencing over a less serious charge, though one that still carries a maximum jail term of up to seven years.
It was confirmed in October the prosecution and lawyers acting for Dennis were effectively negotiating over the nature of the charges he should face, with his case adjourned for six weeks at the time to allow that process run its course.
At the latest court hearing it has emerged the two charges he was initially facing have been dropped. They were dangerous driving causing death and an aggravated charge of driving without due care. But now Dennis faces just one charge; an aggravated charge of creating likelihood of harm.
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Cycling champion Rohan Dennis will not be held responsible for the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins outside their Medindie home. In a plea deal to a lesser charge, he has admitted driving in a reckless manner but the court heard he never intended to do her any harm.… pic.twitter.com/BsQcMbgfbd
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) December 10, 2024
He has pleaded guilty to that charge and will be sentenced on January 24th. The dropping of the two original charges, and the prosecution's agreement to charge him to a lesser offence, means it is now accepted he did not intend to kill his wife and he is not facing any charge of being responsible for her death.
Hoskins (32) died from her injuries after being hit by a vehicle driven by Dennis outside their home in Medindie, in Adelaide’s inner north, on December 30th last year. The latest court hearing was told Hoskins was on or near the vehicle when Dennis drove it.
The fact he drove the vehicle in those circumstances, the court was told, meant he was likely to cause harm or was recklessly indifferent to whether harm was caused. And that charge is an aggravated offence because he and Hoskins were in a relationship.
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Dennis pleased guilty to the charge and remains at liberty on bail pending his next court appearance, which is a scheduled sentencing hearing, on January 24th.
When the 34-year-old appeared at Adelaide magistrates court yesterday his lawyer, Jane Abbey KC, confirmed prosecutors had agreed to drop the two initial charges and charge Dennis with the new, lesser, offence.
"What is agreed that will happen today is that there will be a plea to count three … the original charges will be dropped,” she told the magistrate Justin Wickens.
“So there was no intention of Mr Dennis to harm his wife and this charge does not charge him with any responsibility for her death,” Abbey added in her remarks to the court.
Hoskins, who had children with Dennis, had represented Australia at the Olympics in London and Rio, in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
She was world champion in the team pursuit in 2015 and also won two silvers and a bronze riding the same event for Australia at the World Track Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014. She also secured a silver medal in the scratch race at the Worlds in Melbourne in 2012.
The 32-year-old was also a very accomplished road rider, winning two silvers and a bronze in the TTT at the World Road Championships between 2012 and 2014. On the road she also won two stages and the overall at Tour of Chongming Island (2.1) in 2012.
Hoskins competed for Oirca-AIS for four years up to her retirement in 2015. The team was a UCI Continental squad that was part of the team now known as Team Jayco AlUla.
Dennis was arrested and questioned but was released on bail after being charged pending his first court appearance earlier this year. He retired from pro cycling at the end of last year, finishing his career with a two-year stint at Jumbo-Visma.
