Father guilty of murdering daughter, 14, after he stabbed her in kitchen of their home in Darlington
A father has been found guilty of murdering his daughter after he stabbed her in the heart at their home in Darlington.
Simon Vickers, 50, was convicted of murder at Teesside Crown Court on Monday.
He gave different accounts of what happened in the moments before he plunged a kitchen knife into his daughter Scarlett’s chest last July.
Vickers claimed his daughter was wounded during a family play-fight in the kitchen and that it was a “freak accident”.
But prosecutors said the 11cm wound was too deep to have been caused accidentally, and the knife must have been “held firmly” at the time.
The 14-year-old died at the scene.
Simon Vickers. Pic: Durham Constabulary
Vickers had been drinking wine, watching the Euros football tournament on television and had smoked cannabis that day.
Scarlett’s mother, Sarah Hall, was making spaghetti bolognese for the family and, when Scarlett came down from her bedroom, they all started throwing grapes at each other for fun.
She 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 immediately saw that their only child was bleeding heavily.
She 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”.
Prosecutor Mark McKone KC told jurors paramedic Andrew Crow said initially Vickers and Ms Hall were unsure how the injury occurred.
“Then Scarlett’s mum said that Scarlett and her dad were play-fighting and ‘chucking’ knives at each other,” Mr McKone continued.
“Mr Crow said that the defendant picked up a knife off the side counter of the kitchen and said ‘We were messing, we were play-fighting and she lunged towards me and it just went in’.”
Giving evidence in his defence, Vickers claimed he had swiped what he thought were tongs along a work surface, into Scarlett’s chest, and didn’t realise it was a knife.
Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton told the jury the way the knife went into the teenager’s chest meant it must have been held in a hand, with force.
Scarlett’s mother – the only other person in the kitchen at the time – stood by her partner of 27 years and told the court Vickers loved their daughter and would never harm her.
Mr McKone said the prosecution accepted Vickers was “devastated” and loved his daughter – but the blow could not have been caused by the knife being accidentally swiped across a work surface and so deeply into her body.
Jurors took 13 hours and 21 minutes to convict Vickers of murder by a majority of 10-2, rather than the less serious alternative of manslaughter, or to clear him.
Vickers did not visibly react in the dock, while Ms Hall and other family members in the public gallery looked stunned by the verdict.
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Nicholas Lumley KC, defending, had told jurors 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.”
Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd, of Durham Constabulary, 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.”
Vickers – who had denied both the murder and the manslaughter of his only child – will be sentenced on 10 February.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.
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