A father accused of stabbing his teenage daughter to death has claimed that they were just play-fighting in the kitchen when the incident occurred.
On Tuesday, January 14, Teesside Crown Court in Middlesborough, England, heard that Simon Vickers, 50, denied causing the “tragic death” of his 14-year-old daughter, Scarlett Vickers... Continue reading here ▶
Scarlett was stabbed in the heart on July 5, 2024, and was declared dead by paramedic Andrew Crow at around 11:50 p.m. that evening.
Vickers has denied both murder and manslaughter. His defense attorney, Nicholas Lumley, told the court that Simon and Scarlett were “messing around” in the kitchen in a normal playful way at the time of her death.
Lumley explained that Scarlett’s body must have come into contact with a sharp knife, which caused a single stab wound that led to her quick death.
While Vickers admits to feeling morally responsible for his daughter’s death, he denies intentionally causing it. The court was told that Scarlett suffered a 4-inch wound to her chest and “bled to death” after lunging towards her father, causing the knife to penetrate her chest.
Both of Scarlett’s parents, Vickers and Sarah Hall, told police that the family had been throwing food and utensils at each other while preparing dinner. Hall said that she had taken out a kitchen knife to cut garlic bread, and Vickers accidentally grabbed it instead of a spatula.
Vickers reportedly told police, “It wasn’t even hard, it was nothing, I don’t understand” when asked about the stabbing. The parents said they didn’t realize Scarlett was injured until she yelled.
Vickers also mentioned that the family had enjoyed a “nice” day watching soccer and drinking wine before the tragedy occurred. When he was booked into Darlington Police Station, Vickers told officers, “We were just playing in the kitchen. One minute I was cooking, next there’s blood gushing out her chest.”
Vickers also claimed that Scarlett started the play-fighting by throwing grapes at him. However, prosecutor Mark McKone argued that Scarlett’s wound was “too deep to have been caused accidentally” and wasn’t the result of a “thrown weapon.” Vickers’ attorney, Lumley, insisted that he never intended to harm his daughter.
