Simon Vickers claimed his daughter Scarlett Vickers died in a "freak accident," but a jury disagreed. The 50-year-old dad is serving life for murdering his only child, who was 14 when she was fatally stabbed in the heart last summer. The killer's partner of 27 years and Scarlett's mum, Sarah Hall, is standing by him despite the conviction. Sarah was present for the "kitchen playfight" and just like her other half, was unable to explain what had happened to their child, a "miracle" daughter they thought they would never have. With police who looked into the family background of the trio finding no motive, Vickers' conviction hinged on expert medical evidence.
Taken to Durham police station after his arrest, the murderer said he was the "unluckiest man in the world". His explanations for Scarlett's death first said he accidentally threw the knife at her during a playfight, before saying he thought the knife was a pair of kitchen tongs and accidentally swiped it at her. He also mused that his daughter could have run into the knife accidentally. "(Scarlett) was very proud of her hair," he told Teeside Crown Court. "She had nice long hair and I started wafting it but she started pushing me when I was trying to get it. She was pushing me in the direction of where the tongs were.
"I put my hand on top of the tongs and swiped them along the kitchen worktop. They hit the corner of this hot plate, and that's why they flew off.". In reality, Vickers is said to have lost his temper after Scarlett pinched him on the bottom and called him a "wimp" when he said "ow". Judge Mr Justice Cotter told the court after his conviction: "It went from an ordinary, happy family Friday night to tragedy within seconds due to what must have been your loss of temper. There is no other plausible explanation. You have never given a truthful explanation of what happened.".
The prosecution case was helped by the crucial evidence of Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Scarlett's body. According to the expert, not only was the knife "held tightly" when it pierced Scarlett's chest, it was "practically impossible" to have entered her body in the accidental way her father described. "Kitchen knives aren't designed to be thrown, they aren't designed to go through the air," said Dr Bolton. "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.".
