Millionaire strangled his daughter, 7, with dressing gown cord
A WEALTHY antiques dealer yesterday admitted killing his seven- year- old daughter by strangling her with a dressing gown cord.
Robert Peters, 55, attacked his daughter Sophia at the family’s £1million home.
As she lay critically injured, her father rang police at around 8am and admitted he had killed his daughter.
Neighbours reported seeing the businessman standing in the front garden, looking stunned as he spoke to officers, before Sophia was stretchered out of the property.
Peters was led away in handcuffs from his home in Wimbledon, south-west London, still wearing his pyjamas. He was initially charged with attempted murder but the charge was upgraded to murder after his daughter died in hospital the following morning.
Yesterday he denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Standing in the dock flanked by hospital staff, the defendant, who was wearing a grey prisonissue tracksuit, showed no emotion as the plea was entered during a short hearing at the Old Bailey.
Deanna Heer, prosecuting, told the court the plea was not accepted and that Peters would go on trial for murder.
James Sturman QC, defending, said: ‘Responsibility for the killing has been admitted and in due course a jury will be told of the grounds of diminished responsibility.’
The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, said: ‘The defendant has pleaded guilty [to manslaughter] on the grounds of diminished responsibility – but there will be a trial on the count of murder.’
During a previous court hearing, Miss Heer had outlined the attack on the young boarding school pupil, which happened just a short time after Sophia’s mother had left the house on November 3 last year.
Miss Heer said: ‘The defendant at that stage began to make preparations for the killing by taking up the dressing gown cord which was later found tied around Sophia’s neck.
‘ The defendant proceeded with his plan to assault his daughter which, the prosecution say, subsequently resulted in her death.’
The girl’s heartbroken mother Kittiya Promsat posted a tribute to her daughter on Facebook page, saying: ‘I love you a lot and love you forever sweetheart.’
The message appeared alongside an image of Sophia smiling for the camera, holding a homemade card for her parents which read, ‘I love you Mum and Dad’.
Miss Promsat, who was Peters’s third wife, is thought to have met the antique porcelain expert more than 11 years ago.
Photographs posted on social media showed the family enjoying lavish holidays in Italy, Thailand and America.
Miss Promsat, who sells cosmetics online, posted dozens of pictures of her family, showing Sophia being cuddled by both parents on a trip to America and other tender snapshots of the youngster making a snowman with her father in 2013.
Peters, who runs an antiques business with twin brother Richard in Kensington, west London, hit the headlines in 2010 after they bought a Chinese vase – which had an asking price of £136 – for nearly £100,000 in an auction bidding war.
The dealer, who has business assets of £1.3million, bought his home in February last year for almost £1million in cash. His trial is due to start on April 23.
‘Preparations for the killing’