A wealthy antiques dealer accused of strangling his seven-year-old daughter with a dressing gown belt has pleaded guilty to murder.

Robert Peters, 56, throttled his daughter Sophia 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 initially 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.

The court heard how on the morning of Friday, 3 November 2017, Peters had been left at home in charge of his daughter.

Peters told police his daughter had woken up and asked him what he was doing during the attack, but all he said to her was "just sorry".

After he believed his daughter was dead, at 8.01, a police operator received a 999 phone call that stated "there's a murder" and the male caller went on to say a child had been murdered.

When the caller was asked, "who's killed them?" the caller replied, "I have."



He later told police said he had been trapped in an affair with a married Home Office official at the time of the murder, explaining the circumstances leading up to the killing in a videoed interview played in his trial.

"The other party, she ended it. She had a hold over me. I tried to end the relationship a number of times but she could not let me go. I kept going back," he said.

His wife Krittiya had found out about it a year ago when she caught him on his phone.

But he added: "She forgave me, sort of, asking me questions. But that was not the real pressure. The pressure was that I was going bankrupt and unable to cope."

He said he had been "depressed" and had tried to commit suicide three times, once 20 years ago and twice more in 2017.

Peters did not rate himself as a "good father" and blamed his "personality" for not loving Sophia as he should.

He told officers he decided to kill her on October 3 last year because it was the last opportunity before she was due to return to her £5,000-a-term boarding school.

Asked if her school fees were an "annoyance", he said it was "everything - the whole scenario of my debt".

He told police he was "too tormented with my life" and "could not bear going on".

Peters said his plan was to kill his wife and family, saying: "I would have wanted to do away with all of them but couldn't."

Asked why he did not just kill himself, he said: "I can't explain."

Detective Inspector Helen Rance from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, who led the investigation, said:

"Sophia was an innocent seven-year-old girl, much loved by her mother, brother and friends. She was tragically murdered by the hands of her own father in the most frightening way.

"Sophia had her whole life ahead of her, which was taken away so cruelly in an act of pure selfishness. Robert Peters has shown no remorse for the murder, and initially maintained a defence of diminished responsibility. However, due to the strong evidence against him, he has changed his plea to guilty.

"This was a particularly traumatic case to deal with for all concerned, and I hope that this conviction brings a degree of closure to Sophia's family."

