Little Emily Jones was only seven-years-old when she was brutally killed in the most horrific way imaginable for any parent.
It happened on the day before the UK was plunged into the first Covid-19 lockdown, on March 22, 2020, and Emily's dad Mark had taken his daughter to Bolton, where they had arranged to meet her mother.
But as Emily was racing along a park in her scooter a woman leapt from a bench and cut her throat, reports Manchester Evening News. The killing shocked the nation and Mark and his family's lives have been shattered forever.
"I have beat myself up about it over the years," he said. "Why did we go to the park on that day? Why did I not stay closer to her when she was on the scooter?
"But it wasn't me that did it. There was no threat as far as I could see. There was no one there, just a lone lady sitting on a bench. I thought she posed no threat whatsoever."
Mark had taken to Emily to the park to meet mum Sarah Barnes, who was out running. The couple were separated but remained on good terms.
Emily had spotted mum in the distance and asked her dad to go ahead.
“Daddy, daddy, I want to go to mum,” Emily told her dad, seeking his approval to go on ahead.
He agreed but before the excited child could get to her mum she was grabbed by a complete stranger, Eltiona Skana, who stabbed Emily in the neck with a craft knife she had bought earlier that day.
Mark did not see the incident and first thought his daughter had fallen and was being helped by the woman. He only began to realise the horror when people nearby began to shout as the hooded figure ran away.
Paramedics arrived within minutes and the child was taken by air ambulance to Salford Royal Hospital, but tragically died that afternoon.
Skana, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of manslaughter, by means of diminished responsibility.
Now Skana must serve a minimum term of 10 years and eight months. She was also made subject to a hospital order.
She will be sent to prison once doctors decide she is in an appropriate state but she could remain in hospital indefinitely. A coroner ruled earlier this week that mental health services could not have predicted or prevented her actions.
She first came to the UK in 2014, travelling from her home country of Albania. She had a history of violence and had twice been sectioned before, in 2015 and 2017.
On the second occasion, Skana locked her mother in a bedroom and went on to attack her with an iron. After both these incidents, Skana was treated in hospital and allowed back into the community.
In August 2019, seven months before Emily was killed, a psychiatrist agreed changed her anti-psychotic medication from injection to tablets at her request.
Skana's care co-ordinator, Victoria Fagan, says she was not consulted about this and said she disagreed as it made it harder to monitor whether she was taking her medication.
The inquest heard that in the week's before Emily was killed, Skana had been 'deliberately non-concordant' with her medication and either stopped or reduced it.
Skana was last seen by a psychiatric nurse on March 11 - just 11 days before tragic Emily's death.
The nurse had reported that she had 'no concerns' about Skana's mental health.
On the morning of March 22, Skana left her home at about 1pm and walked into a pound shop and purchased three craft knives, and headed to Queens Park where she attacked Emily.
Now three years on, Mr Jones cannot come to terms with the brutal nature of his daughter's death.
"The first year, the shock and the loss of not having Emily around was just too much," he said. "I don't think my brain could contend with the enormity of it.
"Only this last year, now the dust has settled, I have come to terms that Emily will not be in my life anymore. I want her to be proud of me. I could have easily gone the other way.
"I have had feelings of 'why am I here?' I'm in a better place now because of the support of my friends and family, who have been amazing.
"You don't move on. You just compartmentalise, put it to the back of your head and carry on to the best of your ability. Some days are better than others."
Paying tribute to his daughter, he said: "All parents say their children are amazing but she was an amazing little character, who was so full of life. She was sporty and a bit of a daredevil.
"She loving socialising and was a lovely, outgoing girl who was full of fun. She loved music and dance. She was quite fiery and bossy and would tell me off all the time.
"It's just a huge hole in all our lives. She would have gone on to do some really good things."
At the recent inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court, senior coroner Timothy Brennand ruled that Skana had been suffering from an 'unpredicted, profound and acute relapse when she killed the child.
He said her actions were 'attributable to a delusional psychotic command hallucination'.
Mr Brennand said Skana had 'deliberately masked her deteriorating condition', and this meant that health care workers were unaware that she was failing to taking her medication.
He said it was only with the 'benefit of hindsight' that her attack could have been predicted and concluded that the work of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) did not amount to a 'gross failure to provide basic care'.
Mr Jones said that while he is 'glad' the inquest is over, he was left 'baffled' by the coroner's findings.
"I can't believe he has come to that conclusion," he said. "They didn't realise the threat she posed, but it was their job to know.
"They may be underfunded and rushed off their feet but there are dangerous people. I don't think enough money goes into mental health services but that's no excuse, especially when you are dealing with dangerous individuals.
"I don't feel like I have got closure. There are a lot of things I'm not comfortable with so I will keep going to keep fighting.
"I want some change in the system. It's my daughter and it's down to me to make this right."
Mr Brennand did raise 'profound concerns' over issues within the health board, including morale, recruitment, staff shortages and workloads and pointed to 'sub-optimal elements of her treatment. He also referenced previous reports that had listed a string of failings by the trust in Skana's care.
Mark had to relive his daughter's death at both the inquest and the criminal trial. He says he has found the 'contradictory' evidence given by various psychiatric experts regarding Skana's mental state as particularly 'distressing'.
He also slammed the Home Office and said his daughter 'would still be alive' if Skana had not been in the UK at the time.
After arriving in the UK, Skana applied for asylum, claiming that she was a victim of trafficking, and was subsequently given leave to stay in the UK until 2024.
The decision was made despite the Home Office being told that Skana had admitted lying about being a victim of trafficking in her application.
Mr Brennand said Mr Jones "may well feel and is entitled to feel" Skana should never have been allowed into the country, and promised to write a letter of concern to the Home Office.
Speaking following the conclusion of the inquest, Sefton Kwasnik, a solicitor representing Mark, said: "She twice told doctors that she lied in her asylum application, she twice told doctors and police that she wanted to go home, in 2015 and 2017.
"And the Home Office offered no explanation as to why they ignored those important clues in her presentation.
"And now we hear that the Home Office are paying Albanian convicts to go home. It didn't happen here."
Following the inquest, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would like to reiterate our deepest condolences over the devasting loss of Emily Jones. We have accepted the Coroner’s findings from the inquest.”
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