Robert Rhodes receives a life sentence with a lengthy minimum term after convictions on five counts
A man convicted of murdering his estranged wife and orchestrating years of deception has been sentenced to life imprisonment at the Crown Court at Inner London.
Handing down a sentence on Friday, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen DBE imposed a life sentence on Robert Rhodes, with a minimum term of 27 years and 321 days to be served before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board. The sentence reflects credit for time already spent on remand.
Rhodes did not attend court for sentencing, despite being medically fit to do so. The court was told he continued to maintain his innocence. In her remarks, the judge said his refusal to attend added “cowardice” to what she described as the “malignant characteristics” of his crimes.
The convictions relate to the killing of Dawn Rhodes, aged 38, who was murdered in the family home on 2 June 2016. The court found that Rhodes cut his wife’s throat from behind in the kitchen, causing catastrophic injuries. The murder followed months of planning driven by sexual jealousy after the breakdown of their marriage.
In 2017, Rhodes was acquitted of the murder after giving false evidence that he acted in self-defence. That account was supported at the time by the couple’s child, referred to in court as X. The case was reopened after the child later disclosed that the original account had been untrue. Following permission from the Court of Appeal, Rhodes was retried and, on 12 December 2025, convicted of murder, cruelty to a child, perverting the course of justice and two counts of perjury.
The judge described the involvement of the child as “grotesque”, finding that Rhodes manipulated X into participating in a plan to deceive authorities and inflicted a knife wound on the child to support a false account of events. She said the emotional and psychological impact on the child would be lifelong.
In sentencing, the court identified extensive aggravating factors, including premeditation, the domestic setting of the killing, the use of cocaine to bolster resolve, sustained manipulation of both the victim and the child, and years of perjury which delayed justice by more than eight years.
Alongside the life sentence for murder, the court imposed concurrent sentences of six years and nine months for cruelty to a child and perverting the course of justice, four years for perjury in 2017 and three years for perjury in 2018.
The judge confirmed that confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 would follow, relating to financial benefit obtained after the victim’s death.