Man guilty of wife's murder after retrial

A MAN who was previously cleared of killing his wife on the grounds of self-defence has been found guilty of her murder after their child came forward with new and compelling evidence.

- CATHERINE WYLIE

Robert Rhodes Police at the scene in Earlswood in 2016

Robert Rhodes, 52, from Withleigh, Devon, was convicted at Inner London Crown Court of murdering his wife Dawn on June 2, 2016 after the jury returned a unanimous verdict, Surrey Police said.

He was also found guilty of child cruelty by inflicting a wound to a child under 10 - who cannot be named for legal reasons - in an attempt to cover up this crime, perverting the course of justice by causing injuries to himself and the child, and by manipulating the child to cause them to injure him in an attempt to cover up what he had done.

Police said Rhodes was also found guilty of perjury at the Old Bailey in 2017 and perjury at the family court in 2018 for falsely giving evidence that he knew was untrue.

Jurors in the trial at Inner London Crown Court heard how Rhodes had originally been acquitted of the murder in 2017 after the jury believed his account that Dawn had tried to attack him first and he was acting in self-defence.

A main witness in the trial - the child under 10 - told their therapist in November 2021 that their father had planned Dawn's murder and had manipulated them into being involved in it.