Rohan Dennis seeks to have new judge after driving while disqualified
Posted Fri 4 Sep 2026 at 12:39pmFri 4 Sep 2026 at 12:39pmFri 4 Sep 2026 at 12:39pm
In short:
Former Olympian cyclist Rohan Dennis has appeared in court today for driving while disqualified.
His lawyer says he will apply for a recusal of the sentencing judge.
What’s next?
The matter will return to court later this month.
Former professional cyclist Rohan Dennis will seek to have a new sentencing judge hear his case for driving while disqualified.
The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge in July.
Dennis was given a suspended sentence and a five-year ban for driving last year for the events leading up to the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins.
Ms Hoskins, a two-time Olympian cyclist, was struck by a car driven by Dennis outside the couple’s Medindie home in Adelaide’s inner-north in December 2023.
In June, police caught Dennis driving, with two children as passengers in the vehicle, not far from where his wife died.
Today in South Australia’s District Court, his lawyer Craig Caldicott said he intended to apply for a recusal of the sentencing judge.
Speaking outside court, Mr Caldicott said he was “of the belief” that the application was “appropriate” in the circumstances.
“There’s nothing wrong with this judge, he’s a very good judge,” Mr Caldicott said.
“There’s a thing called the law and we follow the law and we do what is appropriate in all these cases.”
When asked about the reason for a recusal application, Mr Caldicott said: “I can’t go into that at the moment”.
“We’ll be filing written submissions just before we appear in court on the 22nd [of September].”
Mr Caldicott said there was a possibility that Dennis could be jailed for the offending.
“You should be well aware that driving while disqualified, people go to jail all the time,” he said.
After Ms Hoskins’s death, Dennis was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and an aggravated charge of driving without due care, but those charges were later dropped by prosecutors.
Instead, Dennis pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of creating likelihood of harm.
He was handed a 17-month prison term, which was suspended upon him entering a two-year good-behaviour bond.
The breach of bond matter will return to court later this month.