Rohan Dennis seeks to have new judge after driving while disqualified

Rohan Dennis will ask for a new sentencing judge to hear his case after he pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified. His lawyer, Craig Caldicott, told South Australia’s District Court that he intended to apply for the judge’s recusal.

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There's nothing wrong with this judge, he's a very good judge.

Caldicott said the application was appropriate but declined to explain the reason. He said written submissions would be filed before the matter returns to court on September 22. He also warned that Dennis could be jailed, saying people convicted of driving while disqualified go to prison.

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There's a thing called the law and we follow the law and we do what is appropriate in all these cases.

Dennis, a former Olympic cyclist, pleaded guilty to the charge in July. Police caught him driving in June with two children as passengers, near the Adelaide area where his wife, Melissa Hoskins, died. Hoskins, a two-time Olympian cyclist, was struck by a car driven by Dennis outside the couple’s Medindie home in December 2023.

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I can't go into that at the moment.

After Hoskins’s death, prosecutors dropped charges of causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated driving without due care. Dennis instead pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of creating a likelihood of harm. He received a 17-month prison term, suspended subject to a two-year good-behaviour bond, along with a five-year driving ban. The breach-of-bond matter will return to court later this month.

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You should be well aware that driving while disqualified, people go to jail all the time.