Schoolgirl Emily Jones, 7, killed ‘out of the blue’ as she walked through park
A SCHOOLGIRL was killed “out of the blue” after she was knifed in the neck while walking through a park, an inquest heard.
Eltiona Skana, 30, stabbed seven-year-old Emily Jones as she ran towards her mum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in a Mother’s Day bloodbath.
The paranoid schizophrenic was jailed for a minimum of ten years and eight months in 2021 after admitting manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
An inquest heard yesterday how Skana had been involved in a spate of violent incidents leading up to the 2020 killing.
But Raj Dangi, a consultant psychiatrist for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, said there was no suggestion she would significantly harm anyone.
The medic said Skana, who had arrived in the UK from Albania in 2014, was “compliant” with her medication and it was rare someone would experience a relapse of such severity.
Dr Dangi added: “It baffles me. I’m not able to understand why someone would behave in such a horrendous way towards a little girl.
“There was nothing to indicate she was psychotic. It was out of the blue.”
The inquest also heard from Skana’s care coordinator Victoria Fagan, who said she would have taken action if there was any suggestion the killer was a risk to the public.
She said: “She was a young woman looking forward to the future.
“Of all the patients on my caseload I was most shocked it was her.”
Little Emily was playing on a scooter in Queen’s Park, Bolton, on March 22, 2020, when the horror unfolded.
She was shouting out to her mum, Sarah Barnes, who was jogging nearby when Skana pounced.
The killer leapt up from a bench and grabbed the innocent youngster – slashing her throat with a craft knife.
Dad Mark, who cradled his dying daughter in his arms, at first believed she had fallen from her scooter until a woman yelled: “She’s been stabbed.”
Emily was rushed to hospital but sadly couldn’t be saved and died 30 minutes later.
Mark previously described his daughter’s killer as a “ticking time bomb” as he called for those who left her free to kill to get the sack.
Skana also entered the UK illegally in 2014 in the back of a lorry and applied for asylum, claiming to be a trafficking victim.
The Home Office rejected her claim but, after an appeal, reversed its decision, later granting her leave to remain until December 2024.
But in court, it emerged that Skana admitted to doctors her trafficking victim claim was a lie.
Other shocking revelations also emerged – including how Skana had a violent past.
She stabbed her own mum in 2017 and attacked her sister in another assault.
Two years before that, she was sectioned after she wielded a knife against her neighbours.
When police raided her flat after her arrest they found a stash of un-taken anti-psychotic drugs, which amounted to around a month’s worth of medication.
Skana was originally sentenced to life with a minimum of eight years but this was later upped to ten years and eight months.
Her hybrid sentence will be spent in hospital and she may remain there for the rest of her life unless she is fit to go to prison.
Paying tribute to Emily previously, her parents said: “Emily was 7-years-old, our only child and the light of our lives.
“She was always full of joy, love and laughter.
“Emily had such a cheeky smile and was beautiful inside and out. She had a heart as big as her smile.
“Emily was never happier than when she was spending time with her family and friends, she was our own little social butterfly.
“Emily had a passion for the outdoors and loved to play any sport, even when she was wearing her pink sparkly dresses!!
“We are beyond devastated that this random act of violence means that we will never get to see our beautiful little girl grow up into the wonderful young lady she was showing such promise of becoming.
“It is truly heart breaking to wake up to a world without Emily in it and we cannot comprehend why this has happened.”