Rohan Dennis pleads guilty to driving while disqualified
Former professional cyclist and two-time Olympian Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, according to reports from ABC Australia and BBC — World.
The 36-year-old appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to face the charge. Police pulled him over last month while he was driving with two children as passengers, not far from where his wife, Melissa Hoskins, died two-and-a-half years ago.
Dennis was banned from driving for five years after being handed a suspended sentence last year for the events leading up to Hoskins' death. Hoskins, also an Olympic cyclist, died after being struck by a car driven by Dennis outside their family home in the inner-northern Adelaide suburb of Medindie in December 2023.
During last year's case, the court heard that the couple, who married in 2018, had been arguing about kitchen renovations before Dennis got into his car to leave. Hoskins jumped onto the bonnet of the car and later held onto the car door as Dennis continued to drive. She fell off and was struck by the car, later dying in hospital from her injuries.
Dennis received a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to one aggravated count of creating the likelihood of harm, under a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped two more serious charges. The court found he was not criminally responsible for Hoskins' death but had been reckless in his actions. The judge suspended the 17-month prison term by placing him on a two-year good behaviour bond.
The five-year driving disqualification was backdated to the day of the incident in December 2023.
On Friday, the court heard that prosecutors have asked for the matter to be referred to the District Court to deal with both the driving while disqualified offence and his breach of the good behaviour bond. Dennis, a father of two, is due back in court in September.