Judge clears gallery as woman cries hysterically during court hearing for newborn baby murder case
The judge ordered public gallery to be cleared as one woman cried uncontrollably
Four people accused of murdering a newborn girl who suffered multiple wounds in separate stabbings will go on trial next year, a judge has ruled.
The judge ordered the public gallery to be cleared during the hearing, as one woman wailed uncontrollably.
The baby’s mother, Andrea Skopova, aged 20, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday, September 3 with Peter Horvath Jnr, 19, Peter Horvath Snr, 38, and Nina Horvathova, 37.
The defendants, who are all Slovakian nationals, are charged with the murder of a newborn named only as Baby S.
Earlier this week a court was told that the baby’s body was found on top of a washing machine in an outhouse at an address in the Wincobank area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Sunday.
Horvath Jnr, Horvath Snr and Horvathova, all of Holywell Heights, and Skopova, of Robey Street, Page Hall, Sheffield, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, and perverting the course of justice by cleaning the scene of the alleged crime.
A 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named, also appeared at the same hearing on Thursday charged with perverting the course of justice offence.
All five defendants sat in a glass-fronted dock, watched by 26 members of their families from the public gallery balcony above.
They were flanked by seven security guards and other staff, and two Slovak interpreters.
Onlookers in the gallery were in tears, and one woman cried hysterically as the defendants left the dock, leading the judge to order the public gallery to be cleared.
Judge Sarah Wright fixed a trial date for April 12 next year, saying it was expected to last six to seven weeks.
Judge Wright remanded all the defendants in custody and fixed the next hearing for October 2.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Luke Hopkinson told Sheffield Magistrates Court that Skopova was the baby’s mother.
The father is unknown, Mr Hopkinson said.
Skopova is the girlfriend of the defendant Horvath Jnr, who is the son of the other two adult defendants.
Mr Hopkinson said Horvath Jnr was not believed to be the father.
Baby S was found wrapped in a towel and in a blue bag in an outbuilding at an address in Holywell Heights.
The prosecutor said she suffered wounds to her “face and torso – front and back”.
Two women, aged 26 and 37, who were arrested on suspicion of murder, remain on bail.