THE mum of a teen girl knifed to death by her dad in a “playfight” has begged for his release from jail, asking: “How can I blame him?”
Simon Vickers was last month caged for life after he was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Scarlett at home in Darlington.
TikTokScarlett Vickers was stabbed to death by her dad at home[/caption]
Simon Vickers claimed he was just ‘messing about’ when he plunged the knife inPA
Scarlett’s mum Sarah Hall is standing by her killer husbandNNP
The dad claimed he and Scarlett were just “messing about” when he accidentally threw the blade at her during a play-fight.
But Teesside Crown Court heard the 11cm wound, which penetrated Scarlett’s fluffy dressing gown and bra, was too deep to have been a tragic mistake.
Now the teen’s mum, who is standing by her killer husband of 27 years, has spoken out for the first time.
Sarah Hall has launched a campaign to quash Vickers’ sentence, telling the BBC: “How can I blame him for an accident when I know he’s in as much pain as I am?”
The mum believes the pathologist’s evidence that the stabbing was not an accident is flawed and thinks she can overturn the conviction.
Sarah said her husband would “never harm” Scarlett and told how the trio were so close they called themselves the Three S’s.
She said the family were enjoying one of their “happy Fridays” at home when the horror unfolded.
Scarlett had spent the evening playing games online and chatting with her pals while Sarah and Vickers watched football together in the living room and drank wine.
At around 10pm, Sarah said their daughter joined them in the kitchen as she finished off a spaghetti bolognese for dinner.
The mum claims Vickers and Scarlett were “mucking about” and throwing grapes when she accidentally nipped him with tongs – causing the teen to “jokingly” call him a wimp.
Vickers, who had been smoking cannabis, replied, “How would you like it” and swiped the tongs across the worktop towards his daughter, Sarah claims.
But the mum said he picked up a knife instead, which Scarlett then ran on to – causing her fatal injuries.
She said: “I know he’d never harm Scarlett and I know that it was an accident.
“If I thought he’d done it deliberately then no, I wouldn’t have been here (protesting his innocence.)
“I would have protected her with my life, as would he.”
TikTokScarlett was discovered by emergency crews in a pool of blood[/caption]
Recalling the immediate aftermath of the attack, Sarah remembers her daughter saying “Ow” before blood gushed from her side.
She grabbed a tea towel to stop the bleeding until Vickers took hold of the towel and told her to phone an ambulance.
The mum said it felt like “forever” for the ambulance to come, even though it was only a few minutes.
Both Sarah and Vickers were arrested for attempted murder and taken to separate police stations.
While there, Sarah was told that her daughter had died – causing her to sob, “No, no, please no… my little girl.”
The parents were initially both charged with murder but the case against Sarah was dropped.
In January this year, Vickers stood trial charged with both murder and manslaughter.
The court was told the dad had killed his daughter in a “flash of anger”.
Heartless Vickers attempted to claim that he was the victim after his daughter died in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
After his arrest, Vickers told police: “That was it. We were horse-playing.
“I must be the unluckiest man in the world.”
The court also heard he gave “three different accounts at least” – including that he threw the knife and it penetrated Scarlett’s heart.
In each version, he claimed it was a tragic accident but prosecutors argued Vickers must have stabbed his daughter “deliberately with the knife”.
Jurors heard the injury inflicted to Scarlett “could not have been caused by throwing the knife or indeed by throwing anything else”.
‘Never-ending nightmare’
Sarah has branded the evidence as “absurd” and believed she had misheard the murder verdict when it was announced.
Sentencing Vickers to life with a minimum of 15 years, 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.”
Sarah described the horror as a “never-ending nightmare” and just wants to be able to “grieve together” with her husband.
She has now finally returned to the family home but described it as a “shell” as Vickers and daughter are no longer there.
She added: “It was a happy house. I see the memories everywhere.
“Even going back into her bedroom, she left a blazer there with all her school stuff still in. Everything was just left how it was.”
Scarlett’s mum has returned home to the house of horrorsNNP Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
