Wife killer who manipulated child has sentence increased

Wife killer who manipulated child has sentence increasedImage source, Surrey PoliceImage caption, Robert Rhodes was jailed for 29 years in January for the murder of his wife, Dawn in 2016Published7 July 2026, 11:44 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoA man who murdered his wife and manipulated their child into helping cover it up has had his sentence increased.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 life sentence with 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 Solicitor General Ellie Reeves for being "unduly lenient", and has been increased by four years, to 33 years and six months.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.Image source, Surrey PoliceImage caption, Dawn Rhodes was killed in her kitchen in 2016, but Robert Rhodes was not convicted until 2025In the ruling, Lady Justice May, sitting with Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Judge Nigel Lickley KC, agreed that the sentence was unduly lenient and said that the murder was "truly appalling", adding: "We find it hard to conceive of a more heinous plot."It added 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.Warning: Some readers may find the following details distressing.The retrial at Inner London Cro...