A Surrey father who murdered his wife and then manipulated his own child in a bid to evade justice has been sentenced to life in prison.
A Web of Lies and a Child's Coerced Testimony
Robert Rhodes, 52, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 29-and-a-half years at Inner London Crown Court today. This follows a rare double jeopardy second murder trial, which found him guilty in December of killing his wife, Dawn Rhodes, in 2016.
The court heard how Rhodes stabbed his wife to death in the kitchen of their family home in Redhill, Surrey, as their marriage disintegrated. In a calculated move to escape punishment, he then enlisted the help of his child, who was under the age of 10 at the time, to support a fabricated story of self-defence.
The Sinister Plan Unravels Years Later
Rhodes initially succeeded in his deception. At his 2017 trial at the Old Bailey, he claimed Dawn had attacked him and their child with a knife, forcing him to act. He was acquitted of murder. To bolster his false account, he had even inflicted wounds on himself and a cut on the child's arm, blaming these on his wife.
However, his plan began to collapse four years later when the child, during therapy, revealed the horrifying truth. The youngster disclosed how Rhodes had groomed and manipulated them as part of his plan to "get rid of mummy". This new, compelling evidence led to the quashing of his acquittal and a landmark retrial.
The child described a chilling prelude to the murder on June 2, 2016. Following their father's instructions, they told Dawn to close her eyes to receive a picture. As she stood unaware, Rhodes attacked her with a knife. In the aftermath, he coached the child to lie to police and in court.
Justice Served After a Decade of Deceit
As well as murder, Rhodes was convicted of two counts of perjury, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty. Judge Ellenbogen noted that cocaine was found in Rhodes' system after the killing and referenced "sinister" online searches he had made beforehand, including for "household and other poisons".
Libby Clark from the Crown Prosecution Service stated: "The new evidence that came from the child witness was profoundly shocking and showed just how much careful planning Robert Rhodes had put into murdering his wife." She praised the "immense bravery" of the child for coming forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey of the Surrey and Sussex Police major crime team said: "The fact that Rhodes not only murdered his wife in cold blood but then manipulated and groomed his own child... is simply despicable." He added that Dawn had been a victim of domestic abuse and coercive control for years, contrary to her portrayal in the first trial.
Rhodes, now of Withleigh, Devon, had denied all charges at his second trial. His life sentence finally brings a measure of justice for Dawn and the child whose life he irreparably damaged.
