Father waiting for answers over daughter's killing

  • Report by ITV Granada Reports correspondent Tim Scott

A father is waiting for answers after his daughter was stabbed to death in a park

Emily Jones was killed on Mother's Day in 2020 as she rode her scooter in a park to meet her mother.

But, as she went past a bench, Eltiona Skana leapt up and stabbing the seven-year-old repeatedly.

Emily was just seven years old when she was attacked. She died later in hopsital.

Skana, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, was handed life with a minimum of eight years - a sentence later increased to 10 years and eight months.

Skana, who suffered with paranoid schizophrenia, had a history of mental illness and violence.

Mark Jones claims that condition was not properly managed by the health trust supervising her.

Skana had been in the care of The Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust but unknown to them, she had stopped taking her anti-psychotic medication.

She had also only been seen once by a health professional in the three months before the killing. A report from the Trust into the incident however concluded Emily's killing could not have been prevented or predicted.

Something Mark Jones says he cannot understand.

He said: "She'd stabbed her mum in the hand, she'd hit her mum with an iron, this is a lady that's got violent tendencies and it's increased and heightened when she's not taking her medication, it's as simple as that."

Elitona Skana was sentenced to life imprisonment and told she could not be considered for parole for at least 10 years and eight months.

The attack happened on 22 March 2020 as Emily rushed to meet her mother in Queen's Park in Bolton.

Mark said: "The lady in front of me just shouted, 'your daughter's been stabbed, your daughter's been stabbed', and I was just like, surely not?

"I ran to Emily, I cradled her, it was just a horrendous thing, like a scene out of a horror movie."

Paying tribute to his daughter Mark added:

Mark is hoping a forthcoming NHS independent investigation will provide the answers he craves. In a statement the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said: "On behalf of the Board of Directors, we continue to send our deepest sympathies to everyone who loved and cared for Emily.

Mark says he is now considering legal action against the Mental Health Trust.

He believes they failed in their duty of care to Eltiona Skana, and are at least partially responsible for the death of his daughter.

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