Mum stands by dad who murdered schoolgirl in 'kitchen playfight'
The mum of a schoolgirl fatally stabbed by her father in a 'kitchen playfight' is standing by her daughter's murderer.
Simon Vickers was found guilty of murdering his only child, Scarlett Vickers, 14, following a trial at Teesside Crown Court. Vickers told the court he plunged the 11cm blade through her heart in a "freak accident" during a play fight in the family's Darlington, County Durham kitchen.
The 50-year-old, who said he'd drank four glasses of wine and smoked a joint on the night of the fatal stabbing in July last year, told police: "We were horse-playing. I must be the unluckiest man in the world."
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But an expert forensic pathologist testifying for the prosecution said Scarlett's stab wound could not have occurred accidentally. The jury found Vickers guilty of murder, and he now faces life in prison when he is sentenced.
Despite the conviction, Vickers' wife of 27 years and Scarlett's mother, Sarah Hall, 44, refuses to accept he murdered their daughter - according to her mother Elaine Hall, reports the Mirror. Scarlet's 65-year-old grandmother said the pair "doted" on their daughter and "daddy's girl."
Elaine told MailOnline: "If Sarah thought he had done anything to her, she'd have been out of there.
"It's definitely just been an accident because there's no way he would have harmed her."
Elaine said the verdict has left Sarah struggling to come to terms with the devastating loss of her daughter and the impending imprisonment of her husband.
Emergency services were called to the family's home in Geneva Road just before 11pm on July 5, where they discovered Scarlett with a fatal knife wound to her heart. As police detained Vickers, he claimed it was all an accident while his partner Sarah was cooking spaghetti.
He said: "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***ing Gran Canaria in six weeks. F***ing 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."
Throughout his trial, Vickers maintained that he had not deliberately grabbed the knife, claiming he thought he had "swiped" at his daughter with a pair of kitchen tongs as they were "mucking about". He acknowledged inflicting the deadly injury but contested the accusations of murder and manslaughter.
The prosecution did not suggest a motive for why Vickers would kill Scarlett, highlighting that pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton's evidence, which stated an accidental stabbing was "practically impossible", contradicted his version of events.
After 13 hours and 21 minutes of deliberation, the jury convicted Vickers of murder by a majority verdict, leading to audible gasps from the public gallery. Elaine, a family member, stated that they would attempt to appeal the conviction.
Vickers is scheduled for sentencing on February 10.
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