The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence of Robert Rhodes, who was convicted of murdering his wife Dawn and manipulating their child to help cover up the crime. The decision came after the Attorney General referred the initial sentence to the court, arguing it was unduly lenient.
Rhodes murdered his wife in their Surrey home in 2016. He was acquitted of murder in 2017, claiming self-defense. However, he was retried in December 2025 and subsequently sentenced to a minimum of 29 and a half years in January, following new evidence provided by their child. The Court of Appeal has now increased this minimum term by four years.
Prosecutors had argued that Rhodes engaged in a "very sustained and significant covering up for many years" and that the initial sentence should have started at a higher point. The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme allows for crown court sentences to be reviewed if they are deemed too low.
The Court of Appeal described Rhodes' "callous, selfish manipulation" of the child as a "particularly abhorrent aspect of this case." Judges stated that Rhodes "thoroughly warranted a long minimum term," but that further aggravating factors should have been considered in sentencing.
During the retrial in December, it emerged that Rhodes had plotted the murder for months and had coerced his child into assisting him. After killing his wife in the kitchen, Rhodes is alleged to have cut the child and asked them to stab him to create a false narrative of self-defense.