A father accused of stabbing his teenage daughter to dying has claimed they had been simply ‘mucking about’ within the kitchen.
Simon Vickers, 50, beforehand advised a court docket 14-year-old Scarlett died in a ‘freak accident’ which occurred whereas the pair had been playfighting of their dwelling in Darlington, Co Durham.
On Monday he claimed he should have flung the knife at her by chance whereas fumbling to choose up a pair of tongs to chase her with.
He accepted inflicting Scarlett’s dying on July 5 final yr however insisted he had no concept there was a knife close to them, denying each homicide and manslaughter.
Requested if he meant to trigger her any hurt, the Vickers mentioned: ‘No, none by any means.’
Vickers mentioned he had drunk three to 4 glasses of wine and smoked a hashish joint whereas watching soccer with Scarlett’s mum, Sarah Corridor, earlier within the day.
He advised the court docket he was later with Ms Corridor within the kitchen, who was cooking dinner, when Scarlett got here down from her bed room saying she was bored.
Vickers mentioned: ‘We turned our tea off so we might have a little bit of craic and knock a couple of bit.
‘Scarlett talked about she was nonetheless a bit hungry and there have been some grapes on the breakfast bar. She began consuming some grapes.
‘I’m undecided who began first … however all of us began throwing grapes round for a bit, simply mucking about.’
He advised the court docket: ‘There have been fairly a number of grapes on the ground and I mentioned we would have liked to choose them up as a result of I wished to carry the canine in … Scarlett threw a number of extra. That’s once I began tickling her.
‘Sarah began grabbing me on the again with a pair of tongs, on the butt.
‘I turned spherical to seize the tongs off her, mucking about, and she or he caught my little finger in them.
‘I did shout “ow” and Scarlett mentioned “Dad you’re a wimp”, so I mentioned to her: “How would you prefer it?”‘
Vickers mentioned the remarks had been ‘in jest’ and that his daughter had ‘referred to as me rather a lot worse than that’ earlier than.
He advised the court docket: ‘(Scarlett) was very happy with her hair, she had good lengthy hair, and I began wafting it however she began pushing me once I was attempting to get it.
‘She was pushing me within the course of the place the tongs had been.
‘I put my hand on high of the tongs and swiped them alongside the kitchen worktop.
‘They hit the nook of this sizzling plate and that’s why they flew off.’
He later mentioned he meant to choose the tongs up and chase Scarlett with them, however they flew out of his hand when he tried to catch them.
‘I had not touched a knife all day,’ Vickers mentioned, including that the tongs had been the one utensil he had touched.
The defendant mentioned he had not seen a knife on the worktop, and didn’t know Scarlett had been harm till she shouted: ‘Ow, ow, ow.’
He advised jurors: “She had a pink fluffy pyjama high on. Swiftly blood simply began popping out of it. A great deal of it.’
Vickers mentioned he referred to as emergency companies and tried to assist Scarlett whereas Ms Corridor stayed on the telephone.
He turned emotional as he mentioned: ‘Scarlett was simply laying there, staring, she wasn’t saying something. Then she began gasping for breath.
‘That’s once I began shouting “Scarlett, Scarlett, Scarlett, Scarlett, Scarlett”.
‘Then she stopped respiratory, simply stopped, nothing. Her eyes simply went like dolls’ eyes, the whole lot simply stopped.’
Requested once more if he meant to hurt Scarlett, Vickers mentioned: ‘No, by no means. By no means on this world. I’d have given my life.’
He added: ‘I had simply thrown a pair of tongs so far as I used to be conscious. We had been mucking about, it was innocent enjoyable … There was no knife in any equation by any means aside from Sarah may have been utilizing it to chop onions initially of the tea.
‘I now know she had received a knife out and put it subsequent to this sizzling plate to chop the garlic bread a couple of minute earlier than this occurred.’
House Workplace forensic pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton beforehand advised the jurythe knife should have been ‘held tightly’ with a view to trigger the 11cm wound that killed Scarlett.
The trial continues.
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