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The woman who killed seven-year-old Emily Jones in a Bolton park on Mother’s Day was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of eight years.
Eltiona Skana, 30, a paranoid schizophrenic with a long history of mental illness, will serve her sentence in a high security hospital.
On March 22, Skana got up from a bench and randomly attacked Emily with a craft knife while riding a scooter, calling out to her mother who was jogging through Queen’s Park.
The Minshull Street Crown Court heard that at that time, the defendant had not been taking her antipsychotic medication.
Skana admitted homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but a murder trial collapsed last week after the prosecution offered no further evidence.
In sentencing, Judge Wall ordered Skana to serve her sentence at Rampton Hospital, where she is currently being treated. She will be subject to restrictions under the Mental Health Act and will only be released if she no longer poses a threat to the public.
“The facts of this case are chilling,” he said. “The background to the murder is his enduring mental health condition.”
He added that despite her mental illness, Skana retained “a significant amount of responsibility” that deserved punishment in the form of a “hybrid” order, meaning she will go to prison for the remainder of her sentence if her condition improves enough. .
Before sentencing, Michael Brady QC read an impact statement on the victim of Emily’s father, Mark Jones, 49. It said: “How can you put into words how you feel about the senseless death of your only son?
“Emily was the beat of our heart, the spring of our steps and the reason we got up every morning.”
On Mother’s Day this year, her father took Emily to the park, where she saw her mother, attorney Sarah Barnes, 42, who was jogging.
The court heard that she had said “Dad, I want to go with Mom” and left. As he did so, he passed Skana, who was armed with a knife bought earlier that day.
The defendant stood up, pulled her hood up, and grabbed the girl, slitting her throat before fleeing, but was knocked to the ground by a member of the public, Tony Canty.
Emily was taken by air ambulance to Salford Royal Hospital but suffered cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 3.56pm with her mother by her bedside.
