A father is accused of fatally stabbing his 14-year-old daughter during a “play fight” in the kitchen whilst they were cooking dinner.
Simon Vickers, 50, is standing trial at Teesside Crown Court in Middlesbrough accused of the manslaughter of his daughter Scarlett.
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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Denying all charges, Simon said that they were play-fighting and throwing food and utensils as they normally did when his daughter lunged towards him.
His barrister said her death was a “tragic accident” and that the 50-year-old loved his daughter with all his heart.
Scarlett’s mother Sarah Hall was also present in the kitchen and made a call to 999 on July 5 after the 14-year-old was stabbed.
She told the operator that they had been “messing about” when Simon picked up a spatula, “not realising the knife was with it”.
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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.