Emily’s killing was an outrage... don’t let it happen again

Tragic...Emily was killed as she went to meet her mum on Mother’s Day

THE father of a girl killed by a paranoid schizophrenic has marked what would have been her eighth birthday by pleading with NHS bosses to prevent similar deaths.

Emily Jones had her throat slit as she rode her scooter in a park last Mother’s Day by Eltiona Skana, 30, who had a history of violence.

Skana was convicted of manslaughter after a murder trial collapsed in November when psychiatrists could only offer her mental condition as an explanation.

During her trial it emerged Skana had stopped taking pills for her condition. A month’s supply was found at her home.

Emily’s grieving dad Mark Jones, 49, said: “I don’t want another family to have to go through what we have been through.

“I want an apology from the NHS and my overall goal would be that they are going to make changes.

“I don’t want Emily’s death to have been in vain. It is an outrage that this has happened.

“It is not something that should happen in a park in Bolton on a Sunday. If we can stop it happening to one other family then that would be amazing.”

Mark and his expartner Sarah Barnes marked Emily’s birthday by laying flowers on her grave.

The youngster had been with her dad in Queens Park in the town, where they planned to meet Sarah, who had been jogging.

Emily saw her mum and raced towards her when Albanian Skana, who had been sitting on a bench, grabbed her and cut her throat. Emily was airlifted to hospital but medics were unable to save her.

Skana was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and committed to Rampton high security hospital in Nottinghamshire. The trial heard she had been a psychiatric inpatient but had persuaded doctors to let her take her drugs orally rather than have them injected.

The Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust carried out an internal review which concluded that the attack could not have been foreseen. Mark said: “It was disgraceful. They outlined all these failings, and there were a lot.

“Their finishing line was, ‘We still think the attack on your daughter was unpreventable’ – which is ridiculous.

“I blame her [Skana] 75 per cent but I also blame the authorities 25 per cent. Just leaving Skana without medication and knowing she was a threat to the public – there were a lot of failings.

“I have spoken to the CEO on a number of occasions and told him, ‘You need to admit liability and apologise to my family’.

“I am a big believer that, if it wasn’t Emily, it would have been somebody else. And who is to say this isn’t going to happen again?”

At the trial psychiatrists told how people with paranoid schizophrenia can stop taking medication because they wrongly believe they are well and do not need it. But Mark said: “If something doesn’t change then another child is going to die.”

NHS England is to carry out an investigation. Neil Thwaite, of the trust, said he welcomed it. He added: “We continue to send our deepest sympathies to everyone who loved and cared for Emily.”

Grieving...dad Mark wants an apology. Below, killer Skana