Twisted killer who slashed neck of schoolgirl Emily Jones, 7, in park could walk free EARLY
THE killer who slashed the neck of schoolgirl Emily Jones while she was in a park could walk free early.
Eltiona Skana, 31, was handed a life sentence with a minimum of ten years and eight months after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter by means of diminished responsibility.
Skana was also given at the time of her sentencing a hospital order which meant she would not go to prison until doctors deemed her fit.
She was initally sentenced to life with a minimum of eight years after admitting manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
It was upped to ten years and eight months in January last year after the sentencing judge admitted the minimum term was “calculated in error”.
During her trial, the court heard how she had sat in wait on a bench in Queens Park, Bolton, on March 22, 2020.
When little Emily went past on her scooter, Skana, who suffers from severe paranoid schizophrenia, quickly grabbed the youngster and slashed her across the neck with a craft knife she had purchased earlier that day.
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Skana was granted leave to appeal in August 2021 and is now set to put her case to the Court of Appeal on February 2.
While Judge Mr Justice Wall was passing sentence on Skana he told her she would be detained in a secure hospital until “no longer necessary” and if she was ever to be released from hospital she would be sent straight to prison to serve her term.
Dad Mark read out a powerful victim impact statement to the court, saying: “How can you put into words how you feel about the senseless death of your only child? It is just too difficult to comprehend.
“Our future has also been taken away. How can you enjoy life when the biggest part of it isn’t there anymore.
“We will never see Emily grow and become the wonderful young lady we knew she would become, we will never see her hold her own child in her arms, as we held her.
“How can an innocent child, playing in the park, be killed in such a violent and monstrous way?”
In January last year Mark vowed to ensure Skana was never released.
He said at the time: “I will keep fighting tooth and nail for her to stay there for the rest of her life – whether it’s ten years or 20 it won’t be enough for me.
“As far as I’m concerned she’s a danger to the public for the rest of her life, she’d do it again to any child I would bet my bottom dollar on that.
“I will do all I can to keep her in prison for the rest of her life.”
In 2017, Skana stabbed her mother and in another incident attacked her sister and had been admitted to psychiatric hospitals three times.