The story of Rohan Dennis and the tragic death of Melissa Hoskins

News.com.au

17-05-2025

It's a tragedy that shocked Australian sport and has left families shattered by grief.
On a Saturday night in the leafy Adelaide suburb of Medindie, Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins lay on a street with critical injuries, as neighbours and her husband Rohan Dennis desperately called for help.
The beloved mother-of-two had tripped and fallen under the family's Volkswagen Amarok, as fellow Olympian Dennis was behind the wheel and driving away.
Ms Hoskins suffered critical injuries and later died at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
This week, Dennis received a suspended jail sentence for his actions leading up to that tragic moment, bringing to a close a dramatic 18-month court case.
This is the full story from the beginning to the end.
December 30, 2023 – 7.45pm
A trivial domestic dispute about kitchen renovations was the catalyst for the tragedy.
The final blow-up happened about 7.45pm as Dennis was washing the dishes after dinner.
'We were having an argument about, it was quite early on today, about the renovation that we've had in our house,' Dennis told police in the hours immediately after Ms Hoskins' death.
'It's three years ago now, and we're not really happy with some of the stuff and I couldn't quite let it go.
'And then once the kids were down, had dinner, so the tensions boiled over again and we were yelling at each other, and I was like, 'I'm out', as in like, I'm just gonna leave the house.'
There was no physical violence in the argument.
'I thought it's just easier, I'll grab the car and … f--king just go,' Mr Dennis said.
'(For) 10, 20 minutes. Come back.'
Dennis left to try and get away from the exchange, taking the family's Volkswagen Amarok from the garage and driving off into the night.
Mere seconds to tragedy
But Ms Hoskins did not want him to leave and jumped onto the bonnet of the car as Dennis drove down Medindie Lane, behind their home, going at about 20km/h.
When Dennis pulled into Avenel Gardens Road, Ms Hoskins dismounted the bonnet and grabbed at the driver's side door.
As Dennis accelerated away from the intersection, Ms Hoskins held onto the driver's side door handle, the prosecution's factual summary – tendered to the court and seen by NewsWire – states.
She tripped and was dragged under the vehicle as Dennis drove off.
When Dennis heard a 'thump', he stopped the car and ran to help her.
The incident happened within seconds.
CCTV footage recorded Ms Hoskins on the bonnet of the car for about six seconds.
The time between Ms Hoskins dismounting the vehicle and Dennis closing the driver's side door and accelerating away from her was three seconds, the factual summary states, and the time between Dennis closing the door and Ms Hoskins falling under the wheel only two seconds.
Nightmare unfolds on quiet street
Dennis said his wife was still alive and struggling to breathe in the aftermath of the accident.
'I rolled her onto her side 'cos she seemed to be choking on something and I thought it might have been blood, and it was,' Dennis said.
'And then they gave – the neighbours they just gave me sort of a, a rug to sort of hold her head.
'I was holding that to try and stop any sort of bleeding. And just talking to her the whole time to try keep her awake.'
Dennis told investigators Ms Hoskins was unable to speak and could only nod.
'She was just moaning, like grunting with the pain, and I was saying, 'Can you feel your legs, are you OK' and just make sure she's … like 'just nod', you know,' he said.
'And she was nodding as a yes … so I was thinking … like I knew she'd hit her head but she's probably, really when I pulled her it felt like she potentially broke some ribs or something, and like … this was bloody hoping it's the worst thing.
'And that's why the blood was coming up but … that's why I was thinking maybe that's why she was struggling to talk.'
South Australian Police arrested Dennis that weekend and charged him with causing death by dangerous driving.
Tale of two champions
Dennis is a three-time Olympian and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
He first achieved fame at the 2012 London Olympics, nabbing a silver medal in the 4000m team pursuit on the cycling track.
At the Rio Games in 2016, he finished in fifth place in the individual time trial, but perhaps his crowning achievement is his bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021.
In memorable scenes at the Fuji International Speedway, he clinched the medal with a time of 56:08.09.
In 2017, he became engaged to Ms Hoskins, a fellow Olympian.
Ms Hoskins competed in the London and Rio Olympics in track cycling.
She only just missed out on a medal in London, finishing in fourth spot for the 3000m Team Pursuit category.
In Rio, she finished in fifth position for the 4000m Team Pursuit.
In 2018, the pair married, and would settle into an elegant home in the inner-north Medindie suburb with their two children.
February 24, 2024 – Remembering Melissa
Hundreds of mourners gathered to farewell Ms Hoskins at a public service in Adelaide on February 24.
The memorial was held on what would have been her 33rd birthday.
Dennis attended the memorial with his children, but did not speak during the service.
He was photographed hugging guests before the ceremony started.
March 13, 2024 – First court appearance
Dennis fronted court for the first time on March 13 last year.
Dressed in a dark navy blue suit, he was met by a scrum of reporters outside Adelaide Magistrates Court.
He declined to say anything as he entered and left the court, standing silently in the dock throughout proceedings before Magistrate Simon Smart.
The prosecution asked for seven months to determine the final charges against the Olympian, arguing they needed six months for the major crash reconstruction report to be completed and then another four weeks for the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine charges.
Leaving the court, Dennis moved quickly through the scrum and into a black car.
August 6, 2024 – Charge determination
At a charge determination hearing later that year, prosecutors confirmed the police would proceed with charges of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without due care.
The charges hold a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
December 10, 2024 – Shock guilty plea
In a shock development, the original charges are dropped and replaced with a single new charge of an aggravated act creating the likelihood of harm.
Dennis pleads guilty to the new charge.
He admits to driving a motor vehicle without lawful excuse when Ms Hoskins was on or in close proximity to the vehicle, knowing that act was likely to cause harm to another and being recklessly indifferent to whether such harm was caused.
The clean-cut medallist, dressed in a sharp suit, stood quietly in the dock before magistrate Justin Wickens and said 'guilty' as the charge was read out to him.
The maximum penalty for the offence is seven years in jail.
Jane Abbey KC, appearing for Dennis, told the court her client was not being held responsible for Ms Hoskins' death.
'There was no intention of Dennis to harm his wife and this charge does not charge him with responsibility for her death,' she said.
His case is referred to the higher District Court for sentencing.
April 14, 2025 – A Family's Anguish
Ms Hoskins' parents Peter and Amanda and her sister Jessica confronted Dennis with their pain and grief in an emotional court hearing more than a year after her death.
Peter broke down when he spoke about the impact the event would have on his grandchildren, who he called the family's 'silent grievers'.
'The silent grievers are too young to realise the present and future impact of their mother's loss on their lives,' he said.
He said when the police delivered the news of his daughter's death, he was unable to process the devastating development and was overwhelmed with 'disbelief, anger and confusion'.
Jessica said she continued to have nightmares about the event and would sometimes wake up in the night and see the faces of the policemen who had broken the terrible news to her.
'It's not something that will ever pass,' she said.
'I will live with this every single day while I'm alive.'
She also said the family had not received an apology from Dennis for his actions.
'No remorse has been shown,' she said.
Peter said an 'apology and some sort of explanation' from Dennis would help his family with their grieving process.
Ms Hoskins' mother Amanda said she believed the event was a 'tragic accident'.
'I know that you would never intentionally hurt her,' she said.
'Emotions would run hot'
Ms Abbey, speaking for Dennis, said the argument that sparked the collapse was the 'sort of thing that husbands and wives disagree about all the time'.
She said 'emotions would run hot' between the pair a couple of times a year and that they had an agreed strategy in place, in which Dennis would leave the home and spend some time alone to allow both of them to calm down before returning to settle the dispute.
She added Dennis was in love with Ms Hoskins at the time of her death.
'He loved her as his best friend, as his partner and as the mother to his children,' she said.
May 14, 2025 – The Sentence
Dennis avoided jail for his actions.
Judge Ian Press sentenced Dennis to 16 months' jail, but suspended the sentence, and placed him on a two-year good behaviour bond.
The Olympian's licence was also disqualified for five years.
Judge Press stressed Dennis was not being held responsible for Ms Hoskins' death, but for his actions leading up to the tragic event.
'To describe the consequences of the events of December 30, 2023, as 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 Melissa,' he said.
'I accept you have a sense of responsibility for all that occurred. I accept you have anguished over what could have been different if you had acted in some other way … you are not charged with being criminally responsible for all of the events of that night and in particular you are not charged with causing the death of your wife.'
Dennis was punished for continuing to drive while Ms Hoskins was on the bonnet, which Judge Press slammed as 'an inherently risky and dangerous act', and for the act of accelerating at the intersection to get away from Ms Hoskins.
Judge Press said he suspended the sentence due to Dennis' guilty plea, his remorse, his personal circumstances and the circumstances of the offending, and his role as the sole carer of his children.
What happens now?
It is unclear what Dennis intends to do now. He has never spoken publicly about the case and has not indicated any wish to do so.
But he is prohibited from driving, which means he will need help from close friends and family to help him move his children around Adelaide as they go to school and grow up.
Ms Hoskins' family, meanwhile, have indicated a clear wish to be present in Dennis' life and to love and support their grandchildren in any way they can.
In a courageous and stoic statement outside court after the sentence, Peter and Amanda said their family would now try to 'move on' from the horrific incident.
'It's now time for us to move on, which would be Melissa's expectations of us,' Peter said.
'Clearly we want to continue to be an integral part of their children's lives and their future.
'How we do this in a meaningful way and relevant way will take time.
'With respect to Rohan, as hard as it is going to be, it is important that we also have a well-mannered relationship with him.
'(Our grandchildren) deserve this, they have done nothing wrong. We would like to thank everybody for their support of us.'
Peter said the family had not sought prison time for Dennis.
'We've got to remember there are two people caught up in this tragedy, and there are young children caught up in this tragedy, who have lost their mum,' he said.
'For them to go and lose their dad, albeit a temporary loss, I don't think that would be ideal at all.
'From the outset, it wasn't something that we were pursuing. The health and wellbeing of (our grandchildren) have been front of mind for us right from the word go. That remains the case.'
The heart-wrenching grief the tragedy has opened up will stay in place.
'We miss Melissa terribly,' Peter said, his voice breaking.