Murder-accused dad 'would never harm' daughter

A father accused of murdering his 14-year-old daughter in their kitchen has told jurors she was his "purpose" in life and he would never have harmed her.

Scarlett Vickers suffered a 4in (11cm)-deep wound to her chest and bled to death at her family home in Darlington in July, Teesside Crown Court has heard.

Simon Vickers claimed he threw what he thought were tongs but was actually a knife as the two were "mucking about" and having "harmless fun" during a play-fight.

Mr Vickers, 50, denies murder and manslaughter. He told jurors he accepted causing his daughter's death but that it was a "freak accident".

Scarlett was fatally injured at her home on Geneva Road on 5 July last year.

A pathologist previously told the court it was "practically impossible" the wound, which penetrated Scarlett's heart, was caused by a thrown blade but rather was more likely to have been inflicted by a knife held firmly in a person's hand.

Asked by his barrister Nicholas Lumley KC if the knife had been in his hand, Mr Vickers replied: "No."

Mr Lumley asked: "Do you accept you and no one else caused her death?"

"Yes," Mr Vickers replied, before saying it was an accident.

When asked if he deliberately hurt his daughter, Mr Vickers replied: "No never, never in this world. I would have given my life."

The court heard they had been "mucking about" in the kitchen while Scarlett's mother Sarah Hall was preparing tea and Mr Vickers grabbed what he thought was a pair of tongs and threw them at his daughter.

He said he heard his daughter exclaim in pain and turned to see blood gushing through her pink, fleecy pyjama top.

Mr Vickers said he grabbed her as she collapsed to the floor and she was gasping for air.

"Then she just stopped breathing, there was nothing, her eyes just went like doll's eyes," Mr Vickers said, his voice cracking with emotion.

He said he tried to perform CPR but there was no response, then Ms Hall took over until paramedics arrived.

"Had you done anything unlawful?" Mr Lumley asked.

Mr Vickers replied: "No nothing, I was throwing a pair of tongs as far as I was aware.

"We were having harmless fun.

"There was no knife in any equation."

Ms Hall told police and paramedics she had got the knife out to cut garlic bread and placed them next to the tongs.

Mr Vickers said he and Ms Hall were still together, adding: "We would never harm our daughter, she was our life, our purpose."

He told jurors he and Ms Hall had tried for a baby for a number of years before Scarlett came along, adding that becoming a father was "the best feeling I ever had".

He said: "I spoilt her, she had me wrapped around her little finger.

"I like to see her happy, put a smile on her face."

He said the trio were "inseparable", called themselves the "three S's" and were all excited about an upcoming holiday to Gran Canaria.

Mr Vickers said Scarlett was a "normal" and "cheeky" teenager and "fantastic daughter" who was "good at most things she did".

He said he had drunk about four glasses of wine on the evening of 5 July while watching the football and all three were happy and in a good mood.

In cross-examination by prosecutor Mark McKone KC, Mr Vickers said Scarlett's death "could only ever be a freak accident".

He said either he swiped the knife towards Scarlett when he thrust the tongs towards her, or Scarlett ran on to the knife as it jutted out from the kitchen counter as she attempted to duck the tongs.

He said he did not see a knife and did not know what had happened, but had spent months in prison trying to work it out.

"I didn't see anything happen," Mr Vickers said.

The court heard the last time he saw his daughter was when he was led out of their home in handcuffs and he had been refused permission by a judge to attend her funeral.

The trial continues.

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