Schoolgirl Emily Jones' killing could only have been predicted 'in hindsight', coroner rules

The killing of schoolgirl Emily Jones was unlawful but mental health services could only have predicted her killer's behaviour with 'the benefit of hindsight', a coroner has found.

The seven-year-old was killed in a horrific attack in a Bolton park as she rode her scooter on Mother's Day in 2020.

Eltiona Skana, then 30, slit the little girl's throat with a craft knife she had bought from a pound shop earlier that day.

Skana, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of manslaughter, by means of diminished responsibility.

More than three years on from Emily's death, on 22 March 2020, an inquest has concluded it was only with the 'benefit of hindsight' that her attack could have been predicted.

Delivering his conclusion at Bolton Coroner's Court, Senior Coroner Timothy Brennand said: "I do not believe that the behaviour of Eltiona Skana in the sense of perpetrating a 'strange homicide' on March 22 could or should have been predicted by the community mental health team."

He added that Skana, who had most likely masked her deteriorating condition, could not have been forced to take her medication.

Mr Brennand said there were "sub-optimal elements of [Skana's] community treatment" from Greater Manchester Mental Health Service (GMMHS), and references previous reports which listed failings by the trust in her care.

But, he said it did not amount to a "gross failure to provide basic care".

Skana killed Emily after snatching the schoolgirl from the Bolton park as she rode her scooter to meet her mother, Sarah Barnes, who was out jogging.

Recalling the moment his daughter saw Ms Barnes, Emily's father Mark Jones, earlier told the inquest Emily said: "Daddy, daddy, I want to go to mum."

As Emily - a pupil at Markland Hill Primary School - rode off on her scooter, she was grabbed by Skana who had pounced from a nearby bench.

Mr Jones said he heard his daughter crying and initially assumed she had fallen from her scooter.

But as he approached Emily, he noticed she was bleeding from her neck.

Skana was seen on CCTV earlier that day walking through Bolton where she purchased the knife she used to cut Emily's throat.

Police bodycam footage then showed Skana telling officers she had the knife in the minutes after she was arrested.

The inquest also heard Skana, who had been under the care of GMMHS, had been sectioned twice before, in 2015 and 2017, following relapses of her schizophrenia.

On the second occasion, she locked her mother in a bedroom before attacking her with an iron.

Dr Raj Dangi, the psychiatrist responsible for Skana's treatment at the time, said the attack 'came out of the blue' and could not have been predicted.

He told the inquest it was not possible to determine whether Skana's actions on the day of Emily's killing were caused solely by her being 'in the grip of psychosis'.

He said he believed she may have had been suffering from an undiagnosed mental health condition at the time, such as a personality disorder.

In August 2019 - about seven months before the killing - the inquest heard that Dr Dangi had agreed to change Skana's anti-psychotic medication from injection to tablets at her request.

But, her care co-ordinator had expressed concerns over this and said she was not consulted on the decision to change Skana's medication.

Victoria Fagan, who had only seen Skana once in the weeks before the killing, said she told Dr Dangi the move would have made it harder to monitor whether Skana was taking her medication.

Just weeks before killing Emily, Dr Dangi said Skana was reporting struggling to sleep, a potential sign of a relapse of her schizophrenia.

Just two days before the attack, the inquest heard that Skana, an Albanian national, walked out of a mental health waiting room after being taken there by her sister Klestora Skana.