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TEEN MURDER
Evil dad who claimed he stabbed daughter, 14, to death while ‘play-fighting’ in kitchen is jailed for life
Watch chilling moment killer dad moans about upcoming holiday after arrest
A MONSTER dad who claimed he was "play-fighting" with his 14-year-old daughter when he knifed her to death has been jailed for life.
Scarlett Vickers suffered catastrophic blood loss after the blade was plunged 11cm into her chest and pierced her heart.
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Her dad Simon Vickers, 50, has been jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years after he was found guilty of murdering his teen daughter at their home in Darlington, Co Durham, on July 5.
The monster, who had been drinking wine and smoking cannabis, claimed he and Scarlett were just "messing about" when he accidentally threw the blade at her.
But Teesside Crown Court heard the 11cm wound, which penetrated the teen's fluffy dressing gown and bra, was too deep to have been a tragic mistake.
It was today revealed for the first time that Vickers was previously convicted in 1993 for attacking a man with a Stanley knife.
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Sentencing, Mr Justice Cotter said: "Scarlett was a normal, healthy young girl, with a long life ahead of her, when it was cut short by you.
“She died in the kitchen of her own home within minutes of having been stabbed.
“It went from an ordinary, happy family Friday night to tragedy within seconds, due to what must have been your loss of temper. There is no other plausible explanation. You have never given a truthful explanation of what happened.”
The heartless dad attempted to claim that he was the victim after his daughter died in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
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After his arrest, Vickers told police: "That was it. We were horse-playing.
"I must be the unluckiest man in the world."
Chilling footage also showed him being booked into the custody suite moaning about an upcoming holiday.
He tells officers: "I just want to know how my daughter's doing.
"We were mucking about, playing in the kitchen, and for some reason this has gone really weird.
"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.
"I don't understand how this has happened. Honestly."
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Vickers claimed the playfight started when he and Scarlett began throwing grapes at each other while mum Sarah Hall made dinner.
Scarlett had told him not to be a "wimp" after Sarah pinched him with tongs, causing him to reply: "How would you like it?"
He said he went to "try and get her" but his daughter tried to push him away so he grabbed the tongs and chucked them.
The dad continued: "She just shouted 'ah, ah ah' and fell to the floor.
"Her lips were going bluer and she wasn't listening when I was shouting at her.
"Sarah took over and the ambulance came and, f***ing hell."
Vickers described his only child as the "love of my life" and told police his world had "gone to s***".
He also denied telling paramedics at the scene that he picked up a knife and that it "just went in" after Scarlett "lunged towards me".
Web of lies
The dad added: "There is no way in the world I would stab my child. I threw those tongs at her.
"I want to die myself. My only child - I don't know what to say. I can't even cry. I don't even know what's wrong."
The court heard the dad gave "three different accounts at least" before his formal police interview of what happened.
Prosecutor Mark McKone KC said Vickers must have stabbed his daughter "deliberately with the knife".
He told jurors the injury inflicted to Scarlett "could not have been caused by throwing the knife or indeed by throwing anything else."
During her evidence, Scarlett's mum Sarah Hall said she believed it was an accident.
She also told how she would not be standing by her partner of 27 years if she thought he had deliberately hurt their daughter.
In mitigation, Nicholas Lumley KC says each member of his family is already serving a life sentence, "from which they will never be free".
He added: “Both of Scarlett’s parents could not believe that their only child had died that night.
“And Sarah Hall remains resolute in her belief that the father of their only child did not intend Scarlett any harm and his parents are of the same view.
“None of them can in fact believe he is now to be known as Scarlett’s murderer.”
Christopher Atkinson, Head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS North East, said: “It is difficult to understand what motivated Simon Vickers to take the life of his daughter, Scarlett.
"In the absence of any plausible explanation on his part, we may never fully understand the circumstances which led to her tragic death.
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“The Crown Prosecution Service has worked closely with Durham police to build a robust case against Simon Vickers, securing his conviction, which saw him sentenced for her murder today.
“We appreciate that the nature of this case will have been incredibly emotive for Scarlett’s family, and our thoughts are with them at what must remain a very difficult time.”
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