Rohan Dennis briefly showed his face at the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday. The ex-rider is suspected of killing his wife, Melissa Hoskins, in front of their home in late December 2023, but again asked the judges to adjourn the case. On December 10, 2024, Dennis must appear in court again. Dennis was arrested after the fatal accident by Australian police, who suspected him of hitting his partner and mother of two children at high speed with a pickup truck. Hoskins, a former rider herself, eventually died in the hospital. This logically brought shock to the Australian and international cycling community.
After the collision in Medindie, just north of Adelaide, Dennis was released on bail reasonably quickly. He did attend Hoskins' funeral in mid-January, along with the two children. There, as during the first hearing in March, he kept silent. In court in March, it was decided that Dennis would remain a free man on bail for five more months so that police could reconstruct the incident properly.
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Dennis could face up to 15 years in prison
After this period had expired, Dennis (who was allowed bail because the authorities did not consider the chances of recurrence high)
reappeared at the court again in early August, and he requested a 12-week adjournment to prepare his plea. The court agreed, and Wednesday, October 30, was the next hearing, at which time another six-week adjournment was requested. The reason was so that negotiations with the prosecutors could continue.
The prosecutors already announced in August that they would pursue charges of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without due diligence. Should the judge indeed charge him with the same, Dennis could spend up to 15 years behind bars for causing death by dangerous driving.
The Guardian writes that Dennis again did not comment to the media upon leaving court. He has not made anything public himself since the accident.