Scarlett Vickers' dad's hidden dark side and web of lies after stabbing teen daughter to death
Scarlett Vickers' dad's hidden dark side and web of lies after stabbing teen daughter to death
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Scarlett Vickers was just 14-years-old when she was brutally murdered by her father at their family home in Darlington, Country Durham, last year. Her father, Simon Vickers, 50, claimed the teen had died during a "playfight" in the kitchen of their home, despite Scarlett being found with a deep stab wound. The dad's dark history of violence was unearthed as jurors found him guilty of murder by a majority of 10-2 at Teesside Crown Court on Monday.
Footage from the night Scarlett was found dead was shown in court, with Vickers seen telling police officers: "We are going to Gran Canaria in six weeks. We were cooking tea, mucking about in the kitchen, I don't understand how this happened, honestly.".
Vickers' differing accounts of Scarlett's death were rejected after the court heard that forensic evidence indicated he must have used force to leave her with the fatal 11cm-deep wound. Vickers had a violent past, having first been convicted of wounding with intent in 1993 when he was aged 19. He was sentenced to two years' detention at the time. In total, he had six previous convictions. It's likely that full details of his violent history will emerge at the sentencing hearing on February 10.
Vickers, who admitted drinking four glasses of red wine and smoking half a cannabis joint before the tragedy, denied deliberately harming his only child and said it was a "freak accident". But after police arrived at the scene, Vickers, who described himself as "the unluckiest man in the world," began changing his story.
