❤️HER NAME IS MELISSA MARIE HOSKINS!❤️
Her name is Melissa Hoskins. She was killed by her husband on December 30, 2023.
Rohan Dennis hit Melissa with his car after they argued.
He was charged with dangerous driving causing death and aggravated driving without due care.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ jail and a five-year licence disqualification.
He pleaded to a much lesser offence when authorities decided he was not responsible.
He was placed on a suspended sentence.
His lawyers argued he should not go to jail because he is the primary carer of Melissa’s children.
This is not an unusual outcome. Men who kill women with their vehicles often face significantly lesser charges & punishment than men who kill women in other ways.
*To protect myself from defamation, I must phrase this post carefully.
Born in 1991, Melissa went to school in WA. Her track-cycling career started at the age of 15 after she was spotted for incredible talent on a bike. She also competed in road events.
She completed a BA in sports psychology and competed across the world and taking part in Commonwealth and Olympic games.
She was a woman with great tenacity, she loved to smile and laugh and she was generous and kind above all.
“We … remember Mel just for her amazing personality,” one colleague said after Melissa’s death. “She was a light and she shone it across so many people.”
Melissa retired from competition in 2017. She married in 2018. Her children were the centre of her universe. She was 32 when she was killed.
“Melissa’s zest for living touched so many people,” her dad Peter Hoskins said at her funeral.
“Melissa was just warming up. Her best performances were yet to come.”
At the sentencing hearing Peter told Dennis: “Melissa did not deserve to die and she certainly did not deserve the death that she suffered.
“Can I forgive you for the abandonment of your responsibilities as a husband and father on December 30? I doubt I can do that – given what you have taken from me and my family.”
Melissa’s sister Jessica told the funeral: “Every time I look at them (your children), I see you.”
At the sentencing hearing, she said: “If anything, Rohan’s actions suggest that he perceived himself as a victim of the situation.
“That he behaves like this overwhelms me with sadness and anger.”
❤️MELISSA MARIE HOSKINS MATTERS!❤️
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