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.