Father fatally stabbed daughter, 14, to death during 'play fight' in their kitchen while cooking dinner, court told

The 14-year-old suffered an 11cm-deep wound to her chest whilst the family were “messing about” at her family home in Darlington in July.

Paramedics were called to the scene where they found Scarlett on the kitchen floor, where she had “bled to death”.

The 14-year-old suffered a 11cm-deep wound to her chest

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The knife allegedly used to fatally attack 14-year-old Scarlett Vickers last July

PA

Defence barrister Nicholas Lumley KC said: “Her body must have come into contact with a sharp knife and she quickly died as a result of a single knife wound.

“He, Simon Vickers, will bear moral responsibility for his daughter's death for the rest of his life.

“However, he denies completely that he did anything unlawful or deliberate to cause that tragic death.”

The 14-year-old was declared dead at her Geneva Road home just before midnight, about an hour after paramedics arrived on the scene.

Simon said that he and his partner were “intoxicated” from drinking wine, after a “nice day” watching the football.

Simon Vickers, 50, is standing trial at Teesside Crown Court

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Prosecutors have claimed that the injury Scarlett sustained “could not have been caused by throwing the knife or indeed by throwing anything else”.

Jurors were told officers heard Simon say: “It wasn't even hard, it was nothing, I don't understand.”

Mark McKone KC, prosecution, said that the 50-year-old must have “firmly” holding the knife when Scarlett was “deliberately” stabbed.

He added that the wound was “too deep to have been caused accidentally”.

He also said that forensic scientist Gemma Escott had analysed the knife and found that the material on the blade indicated that a stabbing motion had been used.

The trial continues.