Antiques dealer admits strangling daughter, 7, with a dressing gown cord

A wealthy antiques dealer has admitted strangling his seven-year-old daughter with a dressing gown cord.

Robert Peters (pictured above), 55, allegedly attacked his daughter Sophia while they were alone at their £1 million family home in Wimbledon, south-west London, on November 3 last year.

Sophia was rushed to St George’s Hospital in Tooting and placed on a life support machine but died the following day.

Peters, of Blenheim Road, appeared before Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC for a plea hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Most popular on Yahoo News UK

Mum-of-three kicked and racially abused after asking stranger to stop swearing on train
Drivers who go over 70mph on the M1 to be fined for speeding on ‘smart motorway’
Apple ‘will kill off the iPhone X this summer’ in the wake of poor sales
Council becomes first to take on monthly bin collection, despite fears of rubbish and vermin
Body found in West Yorkshire river is that of missing schoolgirl, Ursula Keogh, 11

He denied murder but pleaded guilty to Sophia’s manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer said the plea was not accepted and there will be a trial at the Old Bailey from April 23.

The trial is expected to go on for up to two weeks.

A further case management hearing was set for March 28.

The defendant, who appeared in the dock wearing a grey sweatshirt, was remanded into custody.

Peters is among Britain’s most prominent dealers of oriental antiques and is said to have assets worth more than £1 million.

Sophia was initially found with “critical injuries” at the house in Wimbledon and was treated there by emergency staff, but later died in hospital.

(Main picture: PA)