Robert Rhodes, 53, has had his prison sentence increased after a Court of Appeal ruled his original minimum term of 29 years and six months for the 2016 murder of his estranged wife, Dawn Rhodes, was 'unduly lenient.' The minimum term has now been extended to 33 and a half years.
Rhodes was initially acquitted of murder in 2017. His child, who was under 10 at the time, testified that their mother was the aggressor. However, the child later confessed to a counselor that this account was fabricated. This confession led to Rhodes being charged again in a double-jeopardy case, and he was convicted last year.
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves referred the original sentence to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the murder sentence alone should have had a starting point of 30 years before other offenses were considered. Lawyers for Rhodes argued that the sentence should remain unchanged.
Lady Justice May, presiding over the appeal with Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb and Judge Nigel Lickley KC, agreed that the sentence was unduly lenient. The judges described the murder as "truly appalling" and stated they could "conceive of a more heinous plot." They specifically highlighted the involvement of the child in the cover-up as a "particularly abhorrent aspect of this case" involving "callous, selfish manipulation and abuse," which they felt was not sufficiently reflected in the original sentencing.
In a victim impact statement, the child described the lasting trauma inflicted by Rhodes. "The traumatic experience Robert Rhodes put me through will never go away," the statement read. "The guilt and shame will never go away, and the scar when he sliced open my forearm will never go away." The child stated they felt like a "shell" since the murder and that Rhodes had not only taken their mother but also their father by manipulating and gaslighting them. "Robert Rhodes lied to me, bribed me, made me feel special in order to manipulate me for his own gain," the child said.
The court heard that on the night of the murder, June 2, 2016, Rhodes, who had taken cocaine, instructed the child to tell Dawn Rhodes to close her eyes, ostensibly to be shown a painting. While the child left the room, Rhodes attacked his estranged wife from behind, severing all the structures in her neck. Rhodes and the child then inflicted injuries on themselves to create the appearance that Dawn Rhodes had been the aggressor.
Rhodes initially told police that his wife had attacked him and their child with a knife and that he acted in self-defense. Police found Dawn Rhodes deceased on the kitchen floor. Rhodes was arrested that evening. During his initial police interview, Rhodes described an argument in the kitchen, claiming his wife attacked him and the child with a knife, and that he acted in self-defense. He wept as he recounted his version of events.
When first interviewed, the child's account supported Rhodes's narrative of self-defense. This, along with Rhodes's initial arrest and subsequent acquittal after a year on remand, meant he was initially a free man.
However, in November 2021, the child revealed to their therapist that Rhodes had planned the murder and manipulated them into participating in the cover-up. The child reported that Rhodes referred to the act as "our plan" and instructed them to lie about their mother's death.
The acquittal was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2024, and permission was granted for a retrial for murder. Rhodes, who had been living with his fiancée in Devon when he was re-arrested, later told police, "I kind of thought this would come back to bite me." During his trial at Inner London Crown Court last year, Rhodes maintained his self-defense claim and accused the child of lying.