She Cried in the Dock — But Is It Remorse? Mother, 20, and Boyfriend’s Family Charged After Newborn Found Sta@bbed in a Sheffield Outhouse
A quiet street in Wincobank, Sheffield, has become the centre of a case that neighbours say they still struggle to absorb. At a private house on Holywell Heights, police found a newborn girl dead on 30 August 2026 after officers were called over concern for an infant’s safety. A forensic post-mortem concluded she died from stab wounds. In court the child has been referred to only as Baby S.
Four adults now face murder charges, together with counts of causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice by taking steps to conceal the killing. They are Andrea Skopova, 20, the baby’s mother; Peter Horvath, 19, described in court as her boyfriend; and his parents, Peter Horvath, 38, and Nina Horvathova, 37. A 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named because of her age, is charged with perverting the course of justice. All five have been remanded in custody. A provisional trial has been listed for April 2027.
Prosecutors say Baby S was born in the early hours of 30 August at the Holywell Heights address, at about 37 weeks. Shortly afterwards Skopova presented at hospital. Staff realised she had recently given birth and alerted police. Officers first checked her former address on Robey Street. The infant was not there. They then went to Holywell Heights.
The court was told the baby was found wrapped in a towel inside a blue bag, placed on top of a washing machine in an outhouse. She had 33 wounds from 15 separate stabbings, including injuries to the face and torso, front and back. A doctor told the court she would have been alive when the attack took place. The father of the child has not been identified in open court; prosecutors have said Horvath junior is not believed to be the father.
The four adults are Slovakian nationals and required interpreters. Neighbours have described a household that moved in roughly eight months earlier: a man, a woman and teenagers. They were said to be quiet, yet to receive many visitors and hold regular gatherings, without much noise carrying into the street. After the discovery, flowers and soft toys appeared at the edge of the police cordon. Detectives called the case deeply traumatic for the community and for the emergency crews who tried to save the child at the scene.
Skopova was seen in tears in court. Tears, however, do not settle the question the public keeps asking: whether they mark grief, shock, or recognition of what is alleged. The law treats that question as one for a jury, not for a first appearance. Until then the charges remain allegations. Two other women, aged 26 and 37, who were arrested on suspicion of murder, remain on bail and have not been charged with killing the child.
The case now turns on what happened in those hours after the birth, who inflicted the wounds, and who helped hide the body and clean the scene. Those answers will not come from rumours on a residential street. They will come from evidence tested at Sheffield Crown Court.
