ROHAN DENNIS PLEADS GUILTY TO DRIVING WHILE DISQUALIFIED

Australian Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis pleaded guilty in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to driving whilst disqualified. Police pulled Dennis over last month whilst he was driving with two children as passengers. The charge relates to a five-year driving ban imposed after a December 2023 incident in which he struck his wife, Melissa Hoskins, with a car.

Dennis received a suspended 17-month prison sentence in May 2024 after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated creating likelihood of harm. The court found him not criminally responsible for Hoskins' death but deemed his actions reckless. The couple had been arguing about kitchen renovations when Dennis entered his car to leave; Hoskins, also an Olympic cyclist, jumped onto the bonnet and held the car door as he drove, then fell off and was struck by the vehicle. She died in hospital from her injuries. Dennis was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond at sentencing, with his driving disqualification beginning from the date of the December 2023 incident.

Prosecutors have requested the matter be referred to the District Court to address both the current driving-whilst-disqualified charge and Dennis's breach of the good behaviour bond. Dennis is scheduled to return to court in September. The father of two married Hoskins in 2018.