Deadly drama

Wife run over: Ex-professional faces 15 years in prison

Australian ex-professional cyclist Rohan Dennis has appeared in court two and a half months after the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins. At Adelaide Magistrates Court, the two-time world time trial champion is facing charges of dangerous driving causing death and driving without due care. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Former cyclist Hoskins was hit by a car and seriously injured in Adelaide, South Australia, at the end of December at the age of 32. She died shortly afterwards in hospital. Dennis reportedly declined to answer questions from journalists on Wednesday. He attended the court hearing in silence, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported. The 33-year-old was arrested after the incident, but was released on bail shortly afterwards.

The prosecution asked Judge Simon Smart to allow five more months for investigations to reconstruct exactly what happened at the end of December. The defense raised no objections to this, according to court documents obtained by Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Next trial date on August 6
The next hearing is scheduled for August 6. The public prosecutor will then confirm the charges. According to the Australian "Guardian", Dennis faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

Former world champion and two-time Olympian Hoskins had two children with Dennis, to whom she had been married since 2018. The professional became world champion in the individual time trial in 2018 and 2019 and also won at least one stage in the three major national tours. Dennis ended his career last year. Before that, he had won a stage of the Tour Down Under in Australia in January 2023.