Wife killer Robert Rhodes added to the appeals court

In her judgment, Lady Justice May, sitting with Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb and Judge Nigel Lickley Casey, agreed that the sentence was unduly lenient and said the killing was “truly horrific”, adding: “We struggle to conceive of a more heinous plot.”

He added that the “heinous, selfishness” that Rhodes had inflicted on his son was “a particularly heinous aspect of this case.”

“He fully warrants a long minimum term,” Rhodes said, but the features of the case should have made the sentence more severe.

Warning: Some readers may find the following details offensive.

A retrial at Inner London Crown Court in December heard how Rhodes plotted the murder for months, tricking his son into helping him carry out the attack.

Rhodes killed his wife in the kitchen of their home near Redhill.

After the murder, he cut the boy and asked them to stab him in the back to indicate that he had been assaulted.