Man convicted of murder after stabbing daughter in heart with kitchen knife during 'play fight'

Scarlett bled to death after suffering an 11cm deep wound to her chest.

Vickers claimed he did not precisely know how his daughter was killed during the “freak accident”.

However, prosecutors argued that Vickers was lying and that he intentionally stabbed Scarlett after becoming “irritated”.

After a trial of over one week, the jury found Vickers guilty of murder, rejecting his emotional testimony that he would never knowingly harm his only child.

The court heard that the 50-year-old had drunk four glasses of wine and smoked a cannabis joint at the time of the murder.

He was in the kitchen with his daughter and her mother - his partner of 27 years Sarah Hall - when they started “mucking about”.

During this, Scarlett was stabbed, bleeding to death at the scene

A forensic pathologist said the nature of the wound indicated that the knife was held during the incident.

Vickers told police that he must have accidentally thrown the knife, thinking it was something else.

However, in his evidence later he said he may have accidentally swiped the knife along a work surface and it somehow fell into her chest.

Scarlett’s mother, who was the only other person in the room at the time, stood by her partner, telling Teesside Crown Court that Vickers loved their only child and would never harm her.

However, prosecutor Mark McKone KC accused the man of lying, saying: “The prosecution submit that Mr Vickers did not and could not have stabbed his daughter through the heart accidentally.”

Alcohol, coupled with the throwing of grapes, could have led Vickers to become irritated, McKone said.

Vickers had pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and manslaughter.