A man who was initially cleared of his wife’s murder before their child gave new evidence has been been given a life sentence after a rare retrial under double jeopardy laws.
Robert Rhodes, 52, killed Dawn in their family home after he found out she had begun an affair with a work colleague.
He planned the crime and manipulated their child into being involved, describing it as “our plan”, and then made the child lie about how Dawn had died.
Rhodes pictured in police custody again in 2026. He told police he thought the crime “would come back to bite me”
SURREY POLICE/PA
Rhodes was cleared of murder at his Old Bailey trial in 2017 after he claimed his wife, who was 38 when she died, attacked him first.
New evidence from their child, who was under 10 years old at the time of the murder, led to his conviction at a retrial at Inner London crown court under double jeopardy laws in December. Rhodes, from Withleigh, Devon, was also found guilty of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice and two counts of perjury.
Mrs Justice Ellenbogen sentenced Rhodes to a minimum term of 29 years and six months at Inner London crown court on Friday. For child cruelty, Rhodes has been given a sentence of six years and nine months in prison. Rhodes also received six years and nine months in prison for perverting the course of justice, as well as four years and three years for two charges of perjury.
The sentences will run concurrent to the murder sentence, meaning Rhodes will still serve a minimum term of 27 years and 321 days, because of time he has already served.
Ellenbogen said the motive for murder was “sexual jealousy”, adding: “Your wicked and callous acts have had a devastating and divisive effect on Dawn’s family and your own.”
Their child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke to a therapist about being manipulated into helping Rhodes “get rid of mummy” and then revealed the truth to police in 2022.
During the retrial, the court heard the couple’s marriage had been in difficulty since Rhodes found out his wife was having an affair with a work colleague and that he had filed for divorce.
He instructed the child to tell Dawn to close her eyes and wait with her hands out to be handed a picture. The child left the room and Rhodes attacked his wife with a knife as she stood defenceless with her eyes closed.
Rhodes stabbed his wife in the neck, killing her in the kitchen of their house near Redhill, Surrey.
Police said the child made a 999 call at about 7.30pm on June 2, during which Rhodes said his wife had attacked him and their child with a knife and he had acted in self defence.
When police arrived, they found Dawn on the kitchen floor with her throat cut. Rhodes claimed his wife had hit him twice on the back of the head after “flipping like a Hulk”. In an attempt to back up these claims, he stabbed himself and inflicted a cut on the child’s arm which they said were caused by Dawn.
Years later, when he was arrested for murder again, he told police he had “thought this would come back to bite me”.
His 2017 acquittal was quashed in the Court of Appeal and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was granted permission to re-trial.
The retrial was told that Rhodes continued to manipulate the child during supervised contact in 2016 and 2017 while on bail and instructed them to stick to the plan. He also told the child they had “got some things wrong”. He also hid a phone at his own mother’s house when the child visited, on which he left messages reminding them about the agreement they had made to “get rid” of Dawn.
Libby Clark, of the CPS, said the new evidence from the child was “profoundly shocking” and “showed just how much careful planning” Rhodes had put into murdering his wife.
“None of us can even begin to imagine what Rhodes has put the child through over a period of many years. Now though, as a result of their evidence, Dawn can now be remembered by everyone in the right way — as a victim of her violent partner.”
Their child, whose evidence was central to Rhodes’ conviction, said in a victim personal impact statement: “My mother was and is loved by many. She has been missed by all that knew her.”
Speaking through tears, the child said: “While the symptoms can be managed, the traumatic experiences Robert Rhodes put me through will never go away”, adding that the scar caused by Rhodes on the evening of the murder also “will never go away”.
“I wish I could say Robert Rhodes hasn’t taken everything away from me but I can’t. He not only murdered my mother, but he took my father away from me as well.”
A statement by Liz Spencer, Dawn’s mother, was read to the court. She said: “I have waited nearly ten years for this result. I don’t look upon the result as justice, but I feel for the first time my daughter’s voice is being heard.”
Clark added: “For almost a decade, Robert Rhodes thought that he had got away with murder.
“Thanks to the bravery of the child witness in this case in coming forward, the horrendous truth about what happened on that awful night emerged.
“We hope that now the child witness can begin to move forward with their life, knowing that Rhodes has been convicted and imprisoned for his appalling actions that night.”