A ‘rapid’ safeguarding review has been carried out into the death of teenager Scarlett Vickers, who was stabbed to death by her dad.
The 14-year-old died after sustaining a single stab wound through her heart at her Darlington home, in July. As he stood trial for murder Scarlett’s dad, Simon Vickers, claimed Scarlett’s death had been the result of a “freak accident” during a playfight that occurred during a play fight in the kitchen. However, a forensic pathologist argued that the 11cm stab wound to Scarlett’s chest, which penetrated her heart, could not have been accidental
And a jury at Teesside Crown Court last week convicted Vickers, 50, of murder.
The trial heard there was no evidence of a motive and there had been no known issues in the seemingly close family before the tragedy. Scarlett’s mum, Sarah Hall, gave evidence in support of Vickers at court saying; “I don’t know how it happened, but I know he would never harm her.”
Now Darlington Borough Council has confirmed that a rapid review was carried out soon after Scarlett’s death to determine whether any lessons could be learned from what happened and if a full safeguarding review was required. However, it was decided that a full Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) was not necessary as there were no key lines of inquiry or learning to explore, the Chronicle understands. The national child safeguarding practice review panel was consulted with during the rapid review process., and endorsed the decision not to carry out a full review, it is understood.
(Image: Durham Constabulary)
The court heard how on the day of Scarlett’s death, Simon and Sarah had watched a European Championship football game, and he had drunk four glasses of wine and smoked a cannabis joint. Throughout his trial, Vickers maintained that he had not deliberately grabbed the knife, believing instead that he had “swiped” at his daughter with a pair of kitchen tongs as part of their playful antics. He acknowledged inflicting the deadly injury but refuted the accusations of both murder and manslaughter.
Vickers, of Geneva Road in Darlington, will be sentenced on Monday, February 10.
Sarah’s mum, Elaine Hall has revealed that the family plans to appeal the conviction. The 65-year-old told MailOnline that she too believed Scarlett’s death was an accident.
“If Sarah thought he had done anything to her, she’d have been out of there,” she said. “It’s definitely just been an accident because there’s no way he would have harmed her.”, reported the Mirror.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/safeguarding-review-carried-out-murdered-30917682
