Dad jailed for 15 years for killing daughter, 14, with stab wound to the heart
A father has been sentenced to life in prison after murdering his 14-year-old daughter.
Simon Vickers stabbed his daughter Scarlett through the chest with a knife while they were ‘play fighting’ in the kitchen of their home last July.
Sarah Hall, Sarah’s mum, was also in the kitchen at the time and she stood by Vickers, her partner of 27 years, saying he loved their only child and wound never hurt her.
But last month he was convicted of murder by a majority jury of 10-2, taking about 13-and-a-half hours to find him guilty of murder rather than the less serious alternative charge of manslaughter.
He has now been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 15 years, even as Ms Hall and his parents continue to support him and believe his claims that Scarlett’s death was an accident.
Vickers had given three different accounts of what happened in the seconds before he plunged a kitchen knife 11cm into his daughter Scarlett’s chest
Tributes to Scarlett Vickers
Scarlett died at her home in Darlington after a single stab with a knife that pierced her chest.
The 14-year-old was a beloved year nine pupil at Haughton Academy in the town.
Following her death, her classmates honoured her with an event at the park where they released balloons in the air in her tribute.
Her friend Charley described her as a person who was ‘always nice to everyone’ and who did not deserve such a death.
A statement on the Haughton Academy website read: ‘She was always immaculately turned out, respectful and polite.
‘A very friendly girl, with a great sense of humour, she was popular with her friends and will be greatly missed by everyone at school.
‘Staff and pupils at Haughton Academy and the Education Village Academy Trust are extremely saddened by the news and we would like to pass on our thoughts to everyone affected by this tragedy.
‘The Trust is working hard to support pupils and staff through this very difficult time.’
Nicholas Lumley KC, defending, said: ‘Each of those left behind by Scarlett have been left serving life sentences of their own from which none of them will ever be free.
‘Sarah Hall (Scarlett’s mother) remains resolute in her belief that the father of her only child did not intend Scarlett any harm and his parents are of the same view.
‘None can believe that he will now be known as Scarlett’s murderer.’
Sentencing Vickers, judge Mr Justice Cotter said: ‘Scarlett was just 14, a normal, healthy girl with a long life ahead of her when it was cut short by you.
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‘She died in the kitchen of her own home within minutes of having been stabbed.
‘It went from an ordinary, happy family Friday night to tragedy within seconds due to what must have been your loss of temper.
‘There is no other plausible explanation.
‘You have never given a truthful explanation of what happened.’
Vickers, 50, had been drinking wine, watching the Euros football tournament on television and had smoked cannabis on the day of Scarlett’s murder.
Ms Hall was making spaghetti bolognese for the family and, when Scarlett came down from her bedroom, they threw grapes at each other for fun.
The mother said she then snipped at her partner with tongs and when he complained that it hurt, their daughter called him ‘wimpy’.
Ms Hall said she turned away to serve the meal and then heard Scarlett say ‘ow’. Looking back, she then saw their only child was pouring with blood.
Ms Hall made a 999 call and told the operator they had been ‘messing about’, and that her partner had thrown something at their daughter ‘and he didn’t realise’.
Scarlett died at the scene, and Vickers told paramedics his daughter lunged towards him during a bout of play-fighting, insisting in court that it had been a ‘freak accident’.
But Mark McKone KC, prosecuting, said Scarlett’s death could not have been an accident after a Home Office pathologist explained the way the knife entered her chest meant it must have been held in a hand, with force.
In his closing speech, Mr McKone said the prosecution accepted that Vickers was ‘devastated’ and loved his daughter.
But the blow could not have been caused by it being accidentally swiped across a work surface or thrown towards Scarlett and so deeply into her body, he said, with the pathologist saying it was ‘practically impossible’.
After Vickers was found guilty his history of serious violence was revealed for the first time.
He was found guilty of wounding with intent and detained for two years in 1993, when he was 19, after slashing a man in the face with a Stanley knife.
Outside court, Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd said: ‘We may never know precisely what happened in that kitchen, but we can be certain there is no justification for what Simon Vickers did.
‘Had he not picked up that knife Scarlett would still be alive today.
‘This has been an incredibly heartbreaking case for everyone involved and our thoughts remain with those who cared about Scarlett.’
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