A father who stabbed his 14-year-old daughter in the heart while they were play-fighting in the kitchen has been convicted of her murder.
Simon Vickers, 50, gave different accounts of what happened in the seconds before he plunged a kitchen knife 11cm into his daughter Scarlett’s chest at their home in Darlington, last July.
Scarlett’s mother, Sarah Hall was the only other person in the room at the time and she stood by her partner of 27 years, telling Teesside Crown Court that Vickers loved their only child and would never harm her.
But a jury took 13 hours and 21 minutes to convict him of murder by a majority of 10-2, rather than the less serious alternative of manslaughter, or to clear him.
Ms Hall and other family members looked stunned in the public gallery when the verdict was returned.
Vickers did not visibly react in the dock.
Mark McKone KC, prosecuting, had told jurors earlier that Scarlett’s death was not an accident.
Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton explained to the jury that the way the knife went into Scarlett’s 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 and so deeply into her body.
Before the jury was sent out to consider their verdicts, Mr McKone said: “If you accept that Mr Vickers has lied about how Scarlett was killed, this must be because he has something important to cover up.
“This suggests that he does not have a truthful account which he considers to be innocent for you to even consider.
“In other words, Mr Vickers has not got an innocent explanation for wounding Scarlett when the knife was held in Mr. Vickers’ hand.”
Nicholas Lumley KC, defending, had told jurors that Vickers had no desire to harm his daughter – and the prosecution did not put forward any motive.
He said Vickers “will bear moral responsibility for his daughter’s death for the rest of his life”.
Mr Lumley added: “However, he denies completely that he did anything unlawful or deliberate to cause that tragic death.”
Vickers had been drinking wine, watching the Euros football tournament on television and had smoked cannabis that day.
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 made reference to him being “wimpy”.
Ms Hall said she turned away to serve the meal and then heard Scarlett say “ow” and the mother immediately saw that 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”.
Vickers told paramedic Andrew Crow that his daughter had lunged towards him during a bout of play-fighting, the court heard.
In his prosecution opening speech to the jury, Mr McKone said: “Mr Crow said that initially the defendant and Scarlett’s mum said they were unsure how the injury occurred and then Scarlett’s mum said that Scarlett and her dad were play-fighting and ‘chucking’ knives at each other.
“Mr Crow said that the defendant picked up a knife off the side counter of the kitchen and said ‘We were messing on, we were play-fighting and she lunged towards me and it just went in’.”
Scarlett died at the scene.
Giving evidence in his defence, Vickers insisted it had been a “freak accident”.
He claimed he had swiped what he thought were tongs along a work surface, into her chest, and never realised it was a knife.
Mr Justice Cotter thanked the jury and said he will sentence Vickers on February 10.
Simon Vickers’ account of his daughter’s death was “wholly inconsistent” with the evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Following the conviction, Anna Barker, senior crown prosecutor with CPS North East, said: “The account provided by Simon Vickers about how his daughter, Scarlett, sustained a fatal injury is wholly inconsistent with the forensic evidence in this case.
“As part of our case against him, the Crown Prosecution Service instructed a medical expert, whose analysis made it clear that the nature of the wound sustained by Scarlett could only have been caused if the knife used had been firmly gripped as she was injured.
“We have worked closely with Durham Police to meticulously piece together the tragic events which led to Scarlett’s death. Our thoughts remain with her family, for who this must remain a difficult time.”
Durham Police Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd said: “Scarlett Vickers would have celebrated her 16th birthday this year.
“She had her whole life ahead of her.
“Yet it was cruelly cut short by her own father – a man who was meant to protect her.
“We may never know why or what caused Simon Vickers to do what he did that night.
“Sadly, today’s verdict will not bring Scarlett back, but he will now face the consequences of his actions.
“I would like to thank my investigation team for their tireless efforts in getting justice for Scarlett, and the community for their co-operation and understanding while we carried out our inquiries.
“Our thoughts remain with those who cared about Scarlett.”
