Wealthy antiques dealer accused of murdering his daughter dramatically changes his plea to guilty mid-trial

A wealthy antiques dealer accused of the murder of his seven-year-old daughter has changed his plea to guilty days into his trial.

Robert Peters, 56, strangled Sophia with a dressing gown cord while alone with her at his £1 million family home in Wimbledon, south west London, last November.

Afterwards, he called 999 to report what he had done and the child was rushed to hospital but died the following day.

He had admitted manslaughter but denied murder, saying he was depressed and hearing voices at the time.

But on the third day of his trial at the Old Bailey, Peters dramatically changed his plea and admitted murdering Sophia.

With his wife Krittiya Promsat due to give evidence against him on the third day of his trial, Peters indicated he wished to change his plea.

Jim Sturman QC, for Peters, told the court: 'I have had a conference with Mr Peters this morning and he has given me clear instructions that he wishes to change his plea and that he will, if re-arraigned, plead guilty to murder.'

Mr Sturman said the new position would be 'devastating news to his family' sitting in the public gallery.

The millionaire nodded his head as he admitted the charge.

Mr Justice Edis invited the jury to return a guilty verdict, saying: "His guilty plea is the clearest evidence there could be of his guilt and in those circumstances the taking of a verdict from you is a necessary step, but it is a formal step."

Mr Sturman said Peters "suffered from an illness that qualifies" under the Mental Health Act which provided "the only explanation for the killing" in the absence of any other abuse but the court heard there was no question of a hospital order in his case.

Peters, of Blenheim Street, Raynes Park, southwest London, admitted murder and was remanded into custody ahead of sentence next Monday.

Relatives looked down from the public gallery as he was led to the cells, with one repeatedly asking him "Why?".

Before the trial began on Monday, prosecutor Mukul Chawla, QC, applied to adduce bad character evidence about Peters previously strangling, headbutting and slapping his ex-wife Francine Peters.

Mr Peters, 56, who ran a business in Kensington, central London, with his brother, claimed he had been worried about finances when he killed Sophia.

But the Old Bailey was told on Monday he had no mortgage arrears or defaults of his accounts and there was also money in the bank.

Mr Peters waited until his wife had gone out before he woke Sophia up in bed by tying a cord around her neck and throttling her for up to half an hour.

Afterwards, he called 999 and told police to come to his home telling them: "There been a murder."

He said a child had been killed, and when asked who had done it, replied: "I have."

When officers arrived at his £1 million home, Mr Peters calmly told them: "She's upstairs. I've strangled her. My daughter, she's upstairs in her bedroom."

Sophia had a weak pulse and was rushed to hospital, but despite being treated in intensive care, died the next day.

Following his arrest Mr Peters, who had been married three times, told a mental health nurse he had twice tried to kill himself in 2017.

He said he had been thinking of killing his wife and daughter for several weeks so they could be "spared the pain and upset when he became bankrupt".

Mr Peters claimed he expected to go bust in a couple of months and they would lose everything including their home.

But the court was told a preliminary examination of Peters' finances revealed he he was not in debt.

In police interview, he said Sophia had woken up just as he put the cord around her neck and asked: "What are you doing?"

He said she had struggled a little bit as he strangled her for about 20 minutes.

He told officers it had been his last opportunity to kill his daughter as she was due to go back to boarding school after the half-term break.

Peters said he had been having an affair for the last two and a half years, moved out of the family home, then returned having ended it.

A post-mortem examination found Sophia, who had a hole in the heart as a baby, suffered fatal brain damage.

Prosecutor Mukul Chawla QC said: "There is no dispute that the defendant killed Sophia. The prosecution case is that that killing amounted to murder.

"On the part of Mr Peters, it is suggested that the killing was not murder but manslaughter."

Mr Chawla said the jury would have to consider Peters' mental state and whether it was a "significant contributory factor".

It was not disputed that he suffered a depressive illness of "moderate severity", the Old Bailey heard.

But the prosecutor said: "Simply suffering from such a condition is not enough to enable a killing to be reduced from murder to manslaughter."

Peters had previously admitted manslaughter but denied murder, until the plea was changed on Wednesday morning.

In the months before the killing, Peters searched the internet for "serial killers", "treatment of child killers in prison" and "premeditated murder", the court heard.

Jurors were told that a child welfare assessment in the wake of Peters' August suicide attempt had concluded he was not a risk to himself and others.

The case was closed on September 27, just over a month before Sophia was killed.

Sophia's mother, Peters' third wife, sat in the court as the case was opened.