A British father accused of stabbing his 14-year-old daughter to death inside their home has testified that the pair were “joking around” and “having some harmless fun” when she was slashed.
Simon Vickers, who is charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of Scarlett Vickers in Darlington on July 5, called the whole thing a “freak accident”. BBC reported on Monday.
“We were having some harmless fun. There was no knife in any of the equations,” Simon Vickers, 50, told jurors at Teesside Crown Court. “As far as I was aware, I was throwing tongs.
However, the alleged killer's father admitted that what he thought was a thong was actually a knife, inflicting a four-inch cut on his daughter's chest, and that she died of blood loss inside the house. Ta.
“Then she just stopped breathing,” he testified. “There was nothing. Her eyes were like doll eyes.”
Mr Vickers said he drank about four glasses of wine before the fatal crash while watching a football game on TV with Scarlett and her mother Sarah Hall, but insisted it was all an accident.
Hall testified that he took out a knife to cut the garlic bread and placed it next to the tongs.
“We did not intend to harm our daughter,” she told jurors. “She was our life and our purpose.”
Simon Vickers testified that the three family members were “inseparable” and described Scarlett as “cheeky” and “normal”, calling her a “wonderful daughter”.
“I've spoiled her. She has me wrapped around her little finger. I like seeing her happy and with a smile on her face.”
But the incident shocked and upset the quiet northern English town. Vickers was arrested after the stabbing and was later refused permission to leave prison to attend the teen's funeral.
In testimony last week, a forensic pathologist said it was “virtually impossible” that a knife thrown in the manner described by the father could have fatally injured the boy. According to another BBC report,.
Prosecution witness Jennifer Bolton said the 8-inch knife that killed Scarlett was not designed to be thrown and hit the girl at a 90-degree angle, not penetrating her in the chest. He said he was deaf.
Rather, she concluded that the knife was held firmly and “firmly” when it struck the victim.
