Woman sentenced after 7-year-old Emily Jones was killed in Bolton.
She has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of eight years, to be served in a high-security hospital.
Last updated 8th Dec 2020
A woman has been sentenced after 7-year-old Emily Jones was killed in Bolton.
Eltiona Skana aged 30 has been sentenced to life with a minimum of eight years at Minshull Street Crown Court, after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Skana has been sentenced under the Mental Health Act 2003 and has been deemed a dangerous offender so will need to be medically assessed before being considered for release.
On Sunday 22 March 2020, 7-year-old Emily Jones was riding her scooter through Queen's Park with her father, Mark when she began scooting towards her mother, Sarah who was jogging through the park.
On her journey, Emily was scooting past a bench that Skana was sitting on and completely unprovoked; Skana got up and grabbed Emily before attacking her with a knife and throwing her to the ground.
Emily's father immediately ran to her aid whilst Skana fled on foot towards the exit of the park, followed by a member of the public who bravely managed to detain her until police arrived at the scene.
Emily was rushed to hospital but had tragically sustained an un-survivable neck injury and sadly passed away despite the best efforts of medical professionals and her family.
Skana has remained in secure facilities ever since this incident.
Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, of GMP's Major Incident Team
"This was an absolutely devastating incident that has left Emily's parents and family completely heartbroken and I know it sent shockwaves across the country as everyone mourned the loss of this innocent little girl.
"Emily was taken from her family and friends in the worst possible way.
No sentence can ever undo what happened on that awful day in March, but Emily's spirit will live on in her family and I know that she will never be forgotten."
Emily's parents Sarah and Mark wrote this moving impact statement in tribute to their daughter:
"How can you put into words how you feel about the senseless death of your only child? It is just too difficult to comprehend.
"Emily was the beat in our hearts, the spring in our step and the reason we got up every morning.
"Emily was our beautiful, spirited little girl, a bundle of energy with an infectious personality.
"She was bright and funny, a kind child with not a mean bone in her body.
"Emily loved life and had not a care in the world.
"One smile from Emily and she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger.
"Emily was a loveable child, full of innocence and wonder.
"She was just starting out on her path of life and her future has cruelly been cut so short.
"Our future has also been taken away, how can you enjoy life when the biggest part of it isn't there anymore?
"We will never see Emily grow and become the wonderful young lady we knew she would become, we will never see her hold her own child in her arms, as we held her.
"Emily brought out something special in everyone who was lucky enough to be in her life.
"The loss of Emily has had a profound and significant impact, not just on her family, but the whole community.
"Emily was someone’s school friend, a play mate and of course a grand daughter and a niece, and she meant something very special and unique to each and every one of them.
"The last 9 months have been spent in limbo.
"We cannot move on, because at this time, we cannot see a future. We can only focus on today, it is literally one day at a time."
Skana had a long history of mental illness and had not been taking her anti-psychotic medication Minshull Street Crown Court heard
The defendant admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was put on trial for murder.
The trial collapsed last week and the prosecution offered no further evidence after hearing evidence from the psychiatrist treating Skana at high-security Rampton Hospital.
She appeared in the dock for sentence surrounded by hospital staff.
Passing sentence Mr Justice Wall ordered that Skana serve her sentence at Rampton Hospital and will be subject to restrictions under the Mental Health Act, to only be released if she no longer poses a risk to the public.
He told the defendant: The facts of this case are chilling.
The background to the killing is your enduring mental health condition.''
He said that despite her mental illness Skana retained a significant amount of responsibility'', which merited punishment by him passing not a hospital order but ahybrid'' order, meaning the defendant will go to prison for the remainder of her eight-year sentence if her condition improves sufficiently.
Mr Jones has criticised Skana's mental health care
The trial heard the defendant, who first came to the UK from her native Albania in 2014 after claiming asylum, had a long history of mental illness.
She had not been taking her anti-psychotic drugs and had only been seen once by her mental health nurse in the three months before the killing.
Skana was detained under the Mental Health Act after her arrest.
She later told a nurse at Rampton: It was premediated, I waited in a park and picked my victim, I did what I did then tried to run away.''
Prosecutors claimed this showed the killing was planned and therefore amounted to murder.
But it later emerged Skana made the remark after being taken off her anti-psychotic drug treatment and the prosecution withdrew the murder charge.
Mr Justice Wall queried the level of residual responsibility'' despite Skana's illness, because she appeared to be aware of her actions, had purchased the knife and had run away after the attack.
And he questioned why she had also concealed the fact she was not taking her medication from her health workers.
footage shown in court, including body-worn video of Skana's arrest
Simon Csoka QC, mitigating, cited expert psychiatric evidence which suggested concealment and non-compliance with taking medication was often part of the illness for paranoid schizophrenics.
He said: We contend all the evidence, including the psychiatric evidence heard at the trial, that the driver for this offence is the defendant's mental illness.''
Psychiatrist Dr Helen Whitworth told the hearing: In reality I don't think this was wilful deceit. This was a woman who did not understand she was mentally ill.
In my opinion Miss Skana needs to be therapeutically medicated at all times, probably for the rest of her life.''
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for Skana's care, has said a review found Emily's killing could not have been foreseen
Skana was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2015 and had been sectioned and treated as an in-patient twice in hospital.
On one occasion she had picked up a knife after claiming neighbours wanted to harm her, and another time she stabbed her mother in the hand.
Skana was initially given injections of anti-psychotic medication but switched to taking it orally through pills while under the care of the community mental health team.
A nurse who visited her on March 11 told the court she did not detect any psychotic symptoms.