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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Katie Dickinson

Man accused of stabbing daughter in ‘play-fight’ says it was ‘freak accident’

Scarlett Vickers Simon Vickers Sarah Hall Darlington Murder Teesside Crown Court
Teesside Crown Court has heard the 14-year-old died after being stabbed through the heart on July 5 last year (Alamy/PA) -

A father accused of stabbing his 14-year-old daughter during a kitchen “play-fight” has told a court it was a “freak accident”.

Simon Vickers, 50, denies both the murder and manslaughter of his only child Scarlett in the kitchen of their home in Darlington, Co Durham, claiming he accidentally threw a knife at her without realising.

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