‘Emily was the spring in our steps’ says dad
EMILY JONES’S father called his daughter ‘the beat in our hearts’ as her killer was given a life sentence.
Mark Jones, 49, said life’s ‘biggest part has been taken away’ after paranoid schizophrenic Eltiona Skana slit the seven-year-old’s throat in a random knife attack.
Skana, 30, admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and was sentenced to a life with a minimum of eight years in the highsecurity Rampton Hospital. She will be moved to prison if her condition improves sufficiently.
In a written statement read at Minshull Street crown court, Manchester, Mr Jones said: ‘ Emily was the beat in our hearts, the spring in our steps, and the reason we got up every morning. Emily was our beautiful, spirited little girl. A bundle of energy with an infectious personality.
‘She was just starting out on her path in life and her future has been cruelly cut so short. Our future has also been taken away. How can you enjoy life when the biggest part has been taken away?’
He added: ‘ How can an innocent child playing in a park be killed in such a violent, monstrous way?’ Skana had knifed Emily (pictured) on Mothers’ Day – grabbing the victim as she went past on a scooter, heading towards her mum, in Queen’s Park, Bolton. The killer, originally from Albania, had a history of mental illness and hid the fact she had not been taking her medication, the court heard. Mr Justice Wall ordered she can only be released if she no longer poses risks to the public.