Wife killer Robert Rhodes has sentenced increased by Court of Appeal

A court has increased the sentence of a man who “brutally” murdered his wife and manipulated their child into helping cover up what happened.

Robert Rhodes cut wife Dawn’s throat in their Surrey family home in 2016, but he was acquitted of murder in 2017 after claiming she had tried to attack him.

He was retried in December 2025 and handed a minimum jail time of 29-and-a-half years in January after their child gave new evidence.

The sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General for being “unduly lenient”, and has been increased by four years.

Prosecutors argued that Rhodes, appearing via video link, had carried out a “very sustained and significant covering up for many years”, and that the starting point for the murder sentence should have been higher.

The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme allows for crown court sentences to be reviewed if it is thought the sentence is too low.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal found that Rhodes’ “callous, selfish manipulation” of the child was a “particularly abhorrent aspect of this case”.

It said that Rhodes “thoroughly warranted a long minimum term”, but that aspects of the case should have further aggravated the sentence.

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