Australian cyclist convicted of the death of wife Melissa Hoskins

Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has received a two-year suspended sentence because of an auto-incident in Australia where his wife, colleague Olympian Melissa Hoskins, killed.

Dennis argued guilty of a worsened count of creating the chance of damage, after Hoskins was struck by the car he drove during a fight outside the Adelaide house of the couple in 2023.

A judge said that Dennis had ignored the security of his wife, but was not criminally responsible for her death.

The parents of Hoskins spoke outside the court after conviction and said they were “happy” that the case was over and they hoped that the family could “continue”.

The court had previously heard that Dennis and Hoskins had a fight about kitchen renovations shortly before the incident took place, and Hoskins had held the car that her husband was trying to leave.

While condemning Dennis, judge Ian Press said that the incident called “really does not do justice to the grief, the fear and the unrest that those events brought into life of those who knew and loved your wife.”

He said he understood that Dennis had tried “to de-escalate the argument” by driving away, but said it did not apologize for his actions.

“It was your obligation to stop the vehicle when driving that vehicle became dangerous for her physical well -being,” he said, according to a report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“That you didn’t stop because you wanted to leave is a very bad reason not to do this.”

Hoskins was taken to the hospital after he had been beaten, but later died of her injuries.

Dennis was initially accused of dangerous driving that caused death and driving without the necessary care and did not argue, but he later admitted a single, lesser indictment.

Dennis’s lawyer had argued that he was not going to harm his wife and did not know or was “reckless for the fact” that Hoskins held the car.

She told an earlier hearing that despite his “stoic” front, Dennis felt a “deep, deep sorrow”.

On Wednesday, Judge Press emphasized that Dennis was not criminal responsible for causing the death of Hoskins and accepted that he was repentant.

“I accept that you have a sense of responsibility for everything that happened. I accept that you were grown about what could have been different if you had acted in a different way,” said Judge Press.

In Victim -Impact statements read to the court last month, Hoskins’ mother said that although she accepted that Dennis would not have deliberately hurt her daughter, his mood was his “downfall” and “should be tackled”.

Peter and Amanda Hoskins spoke outside the court and said they missed their daughter “terribly”.

“She was very special,” said Mr. Hoskins.

He said that the family would still receive an apology from Dennis, but expected it “to come up with time”.

“It is now time for us to continue, what the expectations of Melissa would be of us,” said Hoskins, adding that it was important that the couple had a “well -manned relationship” with Dennis in the future.

“Two young children have been overtaken in this tragedy … It is clear that we want to remain an integral part of (the lives of the) children and their future.”

Hoskins was a cyclist world champion in the Australian team chase in 2015 and a double Olympian. Her death caused a wave of tribute from all over the world.

She and Dennis married in 2018.

Dennis retired at the end of the 2023 season after a bicycle career in which he won a silver medal team at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and a Bronze in the Tokyo 2020 road time. He also won a gold medal on the Commonwealth Games in 2022.