Simon Vickers, 50, was found guilty of murdering his 14-year-old daughter Scarlett despite claiming her death was a horror accident – and he has now been found to have violent past
Simon Vickers, 50, was found guilty on Monday of murdering his daughter Scarlett (Image: PA)
A dad who was convicted of murdering his 14-year-old daughter after claiming to have stabbed her ‘accidentally’ has been found to have a history of serious violence.
Simon Vickers, 50, claimed he and his daughter Scarlett were ‘mucking around’ in the kitchen in June last year when he plunged an 11cm into her chest and heart. During a trial in which he denied her murder and manslaughter, the dad said: “We were horse-playing. I must be the unluckiest man in the world.”
But forensic evidence proved he had ‘deliberately’ stabbed the teenager due to the nature of the wound she had sustained.
Scarlett died from rapid blood loss on June 5 last year after the kitchen knife pierced her chest and heart at the family home in Darlington, County Durham. Simon admitted he had drunk four glasses of wine and smoked half of a joint that evening, claiming the schoolgirl’s death was the result of a “freak accident”.
Scarlett, 14, died from stab wounds last June She suffered rapid blood loss ( Image:
TikTok) It has now emerged that Simon was also convicted of wounding with intent in 1993 and sentenced to two years’ detention at age 19, MailOnline reports. The father has six previous convictions, the details of which are unknown at this stage.
He claimed that during a ‘playfight’, he ‘accidentally’ threw the knife at Scarlett and suggested a ‘theory’ to the jury that Scarlett may then have accidentally come onto the knife after it ‘hit the side of the hot-plate and stuck out over the side of the counter’. But Mark McKone, KC, prosecuting, suggested the dad may have become ‘irritated’ with the teenager after she and her mother were throwing grapes in the kitchen.
He said in a closing speech to jurors: “This has gone beyond horseplay and Mr Vickers could and should have realised there was a risk in that small kitchen of causing serious injury with a knife.” Asked by prosecutor Mark McKone KC if she thought the knife could have been thrown towards Scarlett, Dr Bolton said: “Kitchen knives aren’t designed to be thrown, they aren’t designed to go through the air.
“So, it is practically impossible for a kitchen knife to be thrown for it to travel in such a way that it lands on Scarlett’s clothing and then her skin at 90 degrees, so it doesn’t simply bounce off or scratch across, and then go 11cm in and apparently come out again.” Mr McKone told jurors: “The knife must have been held firmly in the defendant’s hand at the time of the stabbing, with the defendant having a firm wrist and a firm elbow. The knife must have been firmly in the defendant’s hand to cause that wound, which was 11cm deep. The wound is too deep to have been caused accidentally.”
Simon told police the pair were ‘just mucking around’ ( Image:
Supplied) Following his conviction, officers released footage showing the dad being booked into police custody. He was heard telling officers: “I just want to know how my daughter’s doing. We were mucking about, playing in the kitchen, and for some reason this has gone really weird. We were mucking about. I can’t believe this.
“Please someone tell me. What’s going on? We are going on holiday to f*****g Gran Canaria in six weeks. F*****g hell. I don’t believe this is happening. We were cooking tea. Just mucking about in the kitchen. I don’t understand how this has happened. Honestly.” He added: “The police assume that I have held a knife and stabbed my daughter which is something that just wouldn’t happen. Why would I harm my daughter? If someone held a gun to my head and told me to stab my daughter, I would be shot.”
In a 999 call made Scarlett’s mother, Sarah Hall, she told an emergency operator: “We were messing about, having a fun-fight. My partner threw something and he didn’t realise. My daughter, she’s on the floor, she’s losing quite a bit of blood. I don’t know what happened. She’s going in and out of consciousness.”
Floral tributes left at the scene on Geneva Road in Darlington, County Durham ( Image:
North News & Pictures Ltd northnews.co.uk) In the background, Simon was heard screaming: “Scarlett, Scarlett, talk to me Scarlett. Oh my God, she’s gone blue”
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.”
Simon Vickers faces life imprisonment and is due to appear in court for his sentencing hearing on 10 February.