The heartbroken mother of Scarlett Vickers has remained loyal to her killer husband Simon Vickers.
The father-of-one was today handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years after being found guilty of the murder of his 14-year-old daughter, Scarlett. Vickers, 50, plunged a knife into the teen’s heart while cooking spaghetti bolognese in their family kitchen on the evening of July 5, 2024. He continues to assert that Scarlett’s tragic death was a “freak accident” which occurred during a light-hearted playfight.
Her mother, Sarah Hall, claims she had her back turned while Vickers was “mucking around” with Scarlett in the kitchen. It was then that the fatal blow was struck, with Vickers claiming he “accidentally” threw a kitchen knife and blood started pouring out of the teenager’s fluffy pyjama top. But prosecutors argued that the 11cm wound was too deep to have been the result of a terrible accident, and the knife must have been “held firmly”.
Despite experts dismissing his defence, Sarah has supported her killer lover throughout every step of his trial at Teesside Crown Court and remains “resolute in her beliefs” that he did not intend to harm their only child. Here, we look at their close bond…
Bereaved mother Sarah has stuck by Vickers, her partner of 27 years, throughout his trial and has declared that she would not still be with him had she believed he’d intentionally harmed their daughter. Speaking from the witness box last month, Sarah gave evidence in support of Vickers, telling the court: “We had a very happy family life; we all loved each other very much, and we lived in a little bubble. Simon treated Scarlett very well, he was a very hands-on dad, he loved her very much.”
Sarah told the court they played fun games together on the Xbox and the three of them “did everything together”. She said: “We were all very happy, she was happy, I was happy, Simon was happy.” She told the jury that she had been in regular contact with her husband while he was on remand awaiting trial at HMP Durham. Sarah added: “Most of our phone calls have been talking about Scarlett and how much we miss her, and we can’t believe she has gone.”
Mr Lumley, defending Vickers, asked Sarah: “Did you have any concerns about his care?” To which Sarah replied: “No, never.” Mr Lumley asked: “If you had thought he had murdered your daughter, would you still be with him?”, to which Sarah responded: “Definitely not, she was my number one, she was my best friend, my girl.”
Recalling the night of Scarlett’s death, Sarah remembered how Scarlett had come downstairs from her bedroom to talk to them at approximately 10pm. According to Sarah, the conversation was “fun”, with the family excitedly discussing their holiday plans. Sarah spoke of how she and Scarlett tried to throw grapes into each other’s mouths, with Vickers joining in. She then started playfully snipping at Vickers with some kitchen tongs, with Scarlett teasing her father, “Don’t be so wimpy” when he complained that it hurt.
It was at this point that Sarah told the court that she’d turned away from Vickers and Scarlett to begin serving out pasta, stating: “I was aware they were still mucking around.” Sharing the moment that she realised her daughter had been stabbed in the heart, Sarah told jurors: “She was just looking at me; I said, ‘What’s up?’ and then I saw blood coming out of her side.”
Mr Lumley then questioned Sarah as to whether she had asked Vickers what he had done to Scarlett. She confirmed that she had not, explaining: “It would never cross my mind that he would ever do anything to her.” She continued: “I don’t know how it happened, but I know he would never harm her, so it didn’t even enter my head.”
When asked by Mr Lumley whether she had tried to protect Vickers during her police interview, Sarah said: “No, there was nothing to protect”. She added: “It was an accident, I know he would never harm her. She was my little girl, she was my best friend, she always came first for the both of us.”
Scarlett’s grandad, Barrie, today defended his son Vickers, claiming he would never have intentionally hurt her “in a million years”. Barrie, 78, told The Sun: “He would never in a million years have hurt her deliberately. Scarlett was his life.”
He continued: “Simon would have killed himself before he laid one finger on that girl. I’d be the first one not to speak to him again had I thought for one second he did it. We know Simon wouldn’t have killed her. We know the truth. It was an accident.” Shedding light on mum Sarah’s heartbreak, Barrie added: “Sarah’s lost her daughter and now she’s lost her partner – but she’s standing by him.”
Mr Lumley, defending Vickers, said: “Each of those left behind by Scarlett have been serving life sentences of their own from which none of them will ever be free. Both of Scarlett’s parents could not believe that their only child had died that night. And Sarah Hall remains resolute in her belief that the father of their only child did not intend Scarlett any harm and his parents are of the same view.”
Vickers, who confessed to drinking four glasses of red wine and smoking cannabis before the tragedy, claimed to have “accidentally” thrown the knife at Scarlett during their “playfight”. However, an expert pathologist said the nature of the wound meant the knife must have been held with force. Vickers then changed his story and suggested Scarlett may have accidentally come into contact with the knife after it “hit the side of the hot plate and stuck out over the side of the counter”.
Mr Justice Cotter told Vickers in court: “You’ve given different accounts of what has happened, specifically that she was stabbed by accident, that you’d been throwing knives, that you’d thrown a spatula or tongs, that Scarlett lunged towards the knife. Indeed, the unconvincing and wholly implausible version of events you gave to the jury involved you swiping tongs along the kitchen surface before them flying up into the air, and that you’d not even been aware of a knife before or after Scarlett suffered injury.”
Prosecutors claimed Vickers must have stabbed Scarlett “deliberately with the knife” as the injury was “too deep” to have been accidental. A Home Office pathologist advised it would be “practically impossible” for a thrown knife to result in Scarlett’s fatal chest wound. Giving her professional opinion, Dr Jennifer Bolton said that the knife had been “held tightly” so that when it came into contact with Scarlett, it plunged into her heart. She argued: “That typically means a firm grip, and that arm is braced in a certain way.”
When asked whether she believed the knife could have been thrown towards Scarlett, Dr Bolton responded: “Kitchen knives aren’t designed to be thrown, they aren’t designed to go through the air. So, it is practically impossible for a kitchen knife to be thrown for it to travel in such a way that it lands on Scarlett’s clothing and then her skin at 90 degrees, so it doesn’t simply bounce off or scratch across, and then go 11cm in and apparently come out again.”
Mr McKone told jurors: “The knife must have been held firmly in the defendant’s hand at the time of the stabbing, with the defendant having a firm wrist and a firm elbow. The knife must have been firmly in the defendant’s hand to cause that wound, which was 11cm deep. The wound is too deep to have been caused accidentally.”
Vickers described himself as “the unluckiest man in the world“. However, it was revealed that he had a violent past and was convicted of wounding with intent in 1993, when he was 19 years old. He was sentenced to two years’ detention at the time.
In total, Vickers has six previous convictions. Mark McKone KC, prosecuting, today said that Vickers slashed a man in the face with a Stanley knife. He told the judge: “We acknowledge this was over 30 years ago.” But despite the opinions of experts, and knowing his dark history, Sarah still trusts her husband’s word and is convinced he did not harm their daughter.
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