Dad who murdered daughter's sentence 'too lenient'

An application to increase the prison sentence being served by a man who murdered his 14-year-old daughter has been submitted.

Scarlett Vickers bled to death at her home in Darlington in July 2024 after she was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife by Simon Vickers.

The 50-year-old, who had claimed his daughter died in "a freak accident" while they were "mucking about", was jailed for life and told he would have to serve a minimum of 15 years after he was found guilty at Teesside Crown Court in January.

The office of the Attorney General said it had received a request for Vickers' jail term to be reconsidered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

Vickers' trial heard that Scarlett suffered a 4in (11cm) deep wound to her heart when she was stabbed in the kitchen of her family home on Geneva Road on the evening of 5 July.

Both her father and mother claimed the injury was inflicted accidentally but a pathologist said it was "practically impossible" for it to have been caused by anything other than a knife being held firmly in a hand.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General said: "We have received a request for this sentence to be considered under the ULS scheme.

"The Law Officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and make a decision."

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