Darlington father sentenced to life in prison for murdering teenage daughter
A father who fatally stabbed his daughter during a ‘play-fight’ in their home has been sentenced at Teesside Crown Court
Last updated 1st May 2025
A Darlington dad - who stabbed his daughter in the heart during a so called "play fight" has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 15 years for her murder.
Simon Vickers, of Geneva Road, Darlington, was convicted over the death of his daughter, Scarlett Vickers, after fatally wounding her in the kitchen of their home in July of last year.
On Friday, July 5 last year, Scarlett and her father, Simon Vickers were in the kitchen of their home in Darlington cooking tea.
The exact circumstances surrounding what happened 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."
Anna Barker, Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS North East, said: “The account provided by Simon Vickers about how his daughter, Scarlett, sustained a fatal injury is wholly inconsistent with the forensic evidence in this case.
“As part of our case against him, the Crown Prosecution Service instructed a medical expert, whose analysis made it clear that the nature of the wound sustained by Scarlett could only have been caused if the knife used had been firmly gripped as she was injured.”
“We have worked closely with Durham Police to meticulously piece together the tragic events which led to Scarlett’s death. Our thoughts remain with her family, for who this must remain a difficult time.”