A seven-year-old girl who was left fighting for her life has died in hospital as man arrested over her death faces a murder probe.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died in a south-west London hospital following the incident in Wimbledon on Friday morning.
In Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court court this morning, defendant Robert Peters spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during a four-minute hearing.
Crime scene: This is the road in Wimbledon on which the incident occurred on Friday
Peters, wearing a grey jumper, entered no plea to a single charge of attempted murder.
Peters was remanded in custody until his next appearance, at Kingston Crown Court, on December 1.
Police say it will be up to the CPS to upgrade the charge to murder now the girl has died.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, described arriving home as emergency crews dealt with the developing situation.
The man said: ‘I had been taking my kids to school, I turned into this road and thought it was strange because the cop cars were driving on the wrong side of the road.
‘They were all double-parked, you couldn’t get down further than my house really.
‘There was a woman carrying all the medical gear into the house and you could tell by the look on her face.
A 55-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl who is fighting for her life (stock image)
‘With coppers you can sometimes be all casual, go up and have a chat about what’s going on.
‘But you could see in their faces that something was very wrong. Then the lady came out with a stretcher.’
Neighbours said Roberts had lived in the area for less than a year.
Another said: ‘I knew him just to say hello to in the street, when he was at his car. He hadn’t long moved in.’
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