Father jailed for killing his daughter in her own home
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A dad who killed his daughter in her own home has been jailed for a minimum of 15 years.
Simon Vickers denied murdering Scarlett, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court last month found him guilty by a majority that the 14-year-old died because of the injury he had inflicted upon her.
On the evening of Friday, July 5 last year, Scarlett and her father, Simon Vickers were in the kitchen of their home in Darlington cooking tea.
The exact circumstances surrounding what happened next may never be known but at about 10.45pm Vickers stabbed Scarlett with a kitchen knife.
50-year-old Vickers, of Darlington, had been drinking alcohol and smoking Cannabis throughout the evening.
He claimed he was playfighting with Scarlett and at one point flicked some tongs in her direction and said it was possible a knife was swiped off the worktop in her direction in the process.
He denied picking up a knife, but experts say the knife would have needed to be held to inflict such a serious injury.
Emergency services rushed to the house, but despite their best efforts, Scarlett was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
A postmortem examination revealed the schoolgirl died from a stab wound.
At Teesside Crown Court today, Vickers was sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum of 15 years.
Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd led the investigation for Durham Constabulary.
He 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.”