Dad found guilty of murdering daughter with knife during supposed playfight

Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Monday 27th January 2025, at 15:20hrs

He denied picking up a knife and said he was playfighting when tragedy struck

A man has today been found guilty of murder following the death if his daughter in Darlington.

In a statement released today, Durham Police said:

“Scarlett Vickers had everything to look forward to.

The school holidays were just around the corner, and the 14-year-old was excited about a forthcoming holiday with her family.

But on Friday, July 5 last year, she was killed in her own home.

Late that evening, Scarlett and her father, Simon Vickers were in the kitchen of their home in Darlington cooking tea.

The exact circumstances surrounding what happened next may never be known but at about 10.45pm Vickers stabbed Scarlett with a kitchen knife.

50-year-old Vickers, of Darlington, had been drinking alcohol and smoking Cannabis throughout the evening.

He denied murdering Scarlett, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court today found him guilty by a majority that the 14-year-old died because of the injury he had inflicted upon her.

He claimed he was playfighting with Scarlett and at one point flicked some tongs in her direction and said it was possible a knife was swiped off the worktop in her direction in the process.

He denied picking up a knife, but experts say the knife would have needed to be held to inflict such a serious injury.

Emergency services rushed to the house, but despite their best efforts, Scarlett was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem revealed the schoolgirl died from a stab wound.

Sarah Hall was arrested at the time of the incident and later charged with murder. However, the charge was later dropped, and she has faced no further action.

Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd led the investigation for Durham Constabulary.

He said: “Scarlett Vickers would have celebrated her 16th birthday this year. She had her whole life ahead of her.

“Yet it was cruelly cut short by her own father – a man who was meant to protect her.

“We may never know why or what caused Simon Vickers to do what he did that night.

“Sadly, today’s verdict will not bring Scarlett back, but he will now face the consequences of his actions.

“I would like to thank my investigation team for their tireless efforts in getting justice for Scarlett and the community for their cooperation and understanding while we carried out our enquiries.

“Our thoughts remain with those who cared about Scarlett.”