A father who manipulated his young child into helping him murder his wife and then used them to support a false claim of self-defence has been sentenced to life in prison. Robert Rhodes, 52, will serve a minimum of 29 years and six months for the brutal killing of Dawn Rhodes in 2016, a crime he planned for months.
A Web of Lies and Manipulation
The court heard how the remorseless carpenter plotted to 'get rid of mummy', exploiting the strained relationship between his wife and their child, who was under the age of ten at the time. On the evening of 2 June 2016, at the family home in Redhill, Surrey, Rhodes, who had taken cocaine, instructed the youngster to tell Dawn to close her eyes for a surprise.
When the child left the room, Rhodes sneaked in and savagely slit his estranged wife's throat from behind. The attack was so violent it severed all the structures in her neck. In a chilling act to cover his tracks, Rhodes and the child then cut each other to fabricate a story that Dawn was the aggressor.
The Long Road to Justice
Rhodes was arrested that same night but, with the child initially supporting his fabricated account, he was able to convince authorities he had acted in self-defence. He was acquitted at trial, where the child was a key part of his defence, and walked free after a year on remand.
Justice only began to unfold in November 2021, when the child, during therapy, revealed the horrifying truth: Rhodes had planned the murder and groomed them into participating. Rhodes had described it as 'our plan' and forced the child to lie. This new evidence led the Court of Appeal to quash the acquittal in 2024 and order a retrial.
A Child's Lifelong Trauma
In a powerful victim impact statement, the child, whose identity is protected, described a burden of guilt and shame that 'will never go away'. They spoke of lifelong mental health struggles and a permanent scar on their arm inflicted by their own father during the cover-up.
'Robert Rhodes lied to me, bribed me, made me feel special in order to manipulate me for his own gain,' the child told the court. 'On that evening, Robert Rhodes not only murdered my mother but he took my dad from me as well.' The child also condemned Rhodes for 'gaslighting me, parading around as a survivor, while destroying me and my mother'.
Cowardice and Conviction
Rhodes, who had been living with a new fiancée in Withleigh, Devon, when re-arrested, refused to attend his sentencing at Inner London Crown Court. The court was told he 'maintains his innocence'. Judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen labelled his absence an act of 'cowardice' and described his crimes as 'wicked' and 'callous'.
Alongside the life sentence for murder, Rhodes received concurrent sentences for child cruelty, perverting the course of justice, and two counts of perjury. The 590 days he previously spent in custody will be deducted from his total term. Police and prosecutors paid tribute to the child's bravery, which finally cleared Dawn's name and exposed years of domestic abuse and coercive control.
