Face of mum standing by her daughter's killer after 'play fight' murder

Sarah Hall was in the house when her partner, Simon Vickers, killed their 14-year-old daghter, Scarlett Vickers

A mum is standing by her child's killer after he murdered the teen in a 'play fight' gone wrong. Simon Vickers claimed to have accidentally picked up a knife before plunging it into the heart of 14-year-old Scarlett Vickers.

The youngster had been throwing grapes at her mum, Sarah Hall, at their home in Darlington last July. The play fight continued when Sarah snipped kitchen tongues at her partner of 27-years, Vickers.

The 50-year-old dad was then called 'wimpy' by his daughter who, in just minutes, would be lying dead on the floor. Ms Hall said she turned away to serve a meal of spaghetti bolognese and then heard Scarlett say “ow.”

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She immediately saw that her only child was pouring with blood and called 999. The mum told the operator they had been “messing about”, and that her partner had thrown something at their daughter “and he didn’t realise”. It was claimed by Vickers that the fatal blow was inflicted accidentally.

But a jury took 13 hours and 21 minutes to convict him of murder by a majority of 10-2. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15-years, MEN reports.

He gave different accounts of what happened in the seconds before he plunged a kitchen knife 11cm into his daughter's chest. Ms Hall was the only other person in the room at the time and she told Teesside Crown Court that Vickers loved their only child and would never harm her.

Mark McKone KC, prosecuting, told jurors that Scarlett’s death was not an accident. Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton explained that the way the knife went into Scarlett’s chest meant it must have been held in a hand, with force.

Mr McKone said there was no victim statement from Ms Hall who continues to support her partner - despite his murder conviction. He told the jury: “If you accept that Mr Vickers has lied about how Scarlett was killed, this must be because he has something important to cover up.

"This suggests that he does not have a truthful account which he considers to be innocent for you to even consider. In other words, Mr Vickers has not got an innocent explanation for wounding Scarlett when the knife was held in Mr Vickers’ hand.”

In his closing remarks, Mr McKone said the prosecution accepted that Vickers was “devastated” and loved his daughter. However, he said that the blow could not have been caused by it being accidentally swiped across a work surface and so deeply into her body.

Nicholas Lumley KC, defending, said Vickers denied acting unlawfully and “will bear moral responsibility for his daughter’s death for the rest of his life." On the day of Scarlett's death, Vickers had been drinking wine, watching the Euros football tournament on television and had smoked cannabis.

Vickers told a paramedic that his daughter had lunged towards him during a bout of play-fighting and insisted it had been a “freak accident." Nicholas Lumley KC, defending, said: “Each of those left behind by Scarlett have been left serving life sentences of their own from which none of them will ever be free. Sarah Hall (Scarlett’s mother) remains resolute in her belief that the father of her only child did not intend Scarlett any harm and his parents are of the same view.

“None can believe that he will now be known as Scarlett’s murderer.” Christopher Atkinson, head of the complex casework unit for CPS North East, added: "It is difficult to understand what motivated Simon Vickers to take the life of his daughter, Scarlett.

“In the absence of any plausible explanation on his part, we may never fully understand the circumstances which led to her tragic death. What is abundantly clear is that the account provided by Simon Vickers was wholly inconsistent with the forensic evidence in this case.

“Crucially, the medical expert we instructed to examine Scarlett’s injuries made it clear that they could only have been caused had the knife been firmly gripped as it made contact.”

Sentencing Simon Vickers, Mr Justice Cotter said: “Scarlett was just 14, a normal, healthy girl with a long life ahead of her when it was cut short by you. She died in the kitchen of her own home within minutes of having been stabbed.

“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.”