A man has been jailed for the murder of his wife after new evidence provided by his child prompted a re-trial, as ITV News’ Sam Holder reports
Warning: This article contains details some people may find distressing
Robert Rhodes has been sentenced to life with a minimum of 29 years and six months in prison for the “wicked” murder of his estranged wife, Dawn Rhodes, in 2016, after new evidence provided by their child prompted a re-trial.
Rhodes was convicted in December after the jury returned a unanimous verdict, following an eight-week re-trial at the Inner Crown Court in London, in a rare double jeopardy case.
He originally walked free for the murder of his wife, 38, in 2017, having been found not guilty at the Old Bailey, and it was only when new evidence – supplied by the couple’s child – appeared that he was able to be re-trialed.
In November 2021, the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told their therapist that their father had planned to kill Dawn and had manipulated them into being involved in it.
The judge listed factors that contributed to the sentence, including: “significant premeditation and planning”, “grotesque involvement of [the child]”, “infliction of physical injury on [the child]”, the contents of the 999 call on the night, the domestic nature of the crime, Rhodes’ use of cocaine ahead of the murder, the “great distress and anxiety” which Dawn Rhodes had experienced before her death, and “emotional manipulation” of Dawn Rhodes before her murder.
Mrs Justice Ellenbogen described the child’s decision to reveal the information as “courageous”. During the sentencing remarks, the child was referred to as “X” to protect their identity.
“For the rest of X’s life, X will have to live with X’s involvement in Dawn’s death,” the judge said, adding that the events would have a “substantial and enduring impact” on the child’s life.
The child had been a key witness during the trial when Rhodes was acquitted and had been under ten years old at the time of the murder in June 2016.
In the re-trial, jurors heard about Rhodes’ plot to “get rid of mummy”, as well as the effort he made to keep the truth concealed.
Rhodes refused to attend court for his sentencing, despite being fit to do so.
“He maintains his innocence in these matters and has refused to attend,” defence barrister Nina Grahame KC told the court before the sentencing.
As well as the murder conviction, Rhodes was also found guilty in December last year of two counts of perjury for false evidence at his Old Bailey trial and in the family courts in 2018, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty.
The murder happened on June 2, 2016, when the couple’s marriage had become difficult, and Rhodes had filed for divorce.
Police received a 999 call from the child at 7.34pm during which Rhodes said his wife had attacked him and their child with a knife.
Dawn Rhodes was found lying on the kitchen floor at their home in Redhill, Surrey, with her throat cut.
Robert Rhodes claimed to officers that his wife had hit him twice on the back of the head, and later in his first trial, he described her coming at him after “flipping like a Hulk”.
To back up his claims, Rhodes had stabbed himself and inflicted a cut on the child’s arm – wounds he blamed on his wife.
Rhodes thought he had got away with murder when he was acquitted in 2017.
When he was arrested for murder again, he tellingly told officers he had “thought this would come back to bite me”.
His acquittal on the murder charge was quashed in the Court of Appeal, and the Crown Prosecution Service was granted permission by senior judges to bring the case to a second trial.
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