Father ‘stabbed daughter to death while play-fighting in kitchen’, court hears

The father of Scarlett Vickers has denied murder and manslaughter (Picture: Durham Constabulary; PA; NNP)

A father accused of stabbing his 14-year-old daughter to death has said the pair were simply ‘play-fighting’ while making tea, a court heard.

Scarlett Vickers suffered a 4in (11cm)-deep wound to her chest at her home in Darlington last July and bled to death shortly afterwards.

Her father Simon, 50, denies murder and manslaughter and instead told the court he was simply...