Schizophrenic Albanian woman who stabbed seven-year-old girl to death at random in front of her parents in park on Mother’s Day is found not guilty of her murder after prosecutors dropped the charge
- Eltiona Skana denied murdering Emily Jones but pleaded guilty to manslaughter
- Emily was killed as she rode her scooter through a park in Bolton on Mother’s Day
- Skana, 30, who has paranoid schizophrenia, will be sentenced for manslaughter
A woman who stabbed a seven-year-old girl to death in front of her parents in a park on Mother’s Day has been found not guilty of her murder today.
Eltiona Skana used a craft knife to slash the neck of Emily Jones in a seemingly random attack in Queen’s Park, Bolton.
The 30-year-old had been accused of Emily’s murder but on the seventh day of her trial at Manchester Crown Court, the jury was told the prosecution were discontinuing the case.
In a dramatic move, prosecutor Michael Brady said there was now no realistic prospect of a conviction and the judge Mr Justice Wall asked the jury to formally return a not guilty verdict.
Emily Jones was killed by Skana as she was riding her scooter through Queen’s Park, Bolton, on Mother’s Day
Emily had visited Queen’s Park in Bolton with her father Mark Jones and mother Sarah Barnes on March 22, this year.
The court heard how Skana – a paranoid schizophrenic – was sitting on a bench and armed with a craft knife that was one of a pack of three she’d bought earlier that day from a shop in Bolton town centre.
She stood up as Emily rode past her on a scooter and in ‘one movement slit her throat’ with the craft knife and thew her to the ground.
Skana then made off but a passer-by was able to detain her until police arrived.
During the attack, Skana, originally from Albania but who’s been living in the UK since 2014, screamed: ‘She tried to kill me.’
Psychiatric experts had told the jury that she had a history of mental illness, had paranoid schizophrenia and had killed Emily in a psychotic episode.
But the prosecution had claimed that she was hiding behind the diagnosis and had planned to kill.
Today, prosecution barrister Michael Brady QC told the jury that the Crown Prosecution Service would no longer pursue a murder charge and asked them to find Skana not guilty of that offence.
The seven-year-old had been riding to meet her mother when the defendant sprang from a bench, grabbed her and cut her throat with a craft knife she had bought that morning. Pictured, officers at the scene
Speaking to the jury, he said the prosecution had decided that was ‘no longer any realistic prospect of conviction’ for murder.
‘This is not a decision that has been taken lightly by the Crown,’ he said. ‘It’s a decision taken with care and mindful of the sensitivity of this case.’
He explained that the decision to drop the charge had come following evidence from Dr Saifullah Syed Afghan – a consultant forensic psychiatrist who is treating Skana at Rampton Hospital.
He told the court he had no ‘alternative’ explanation for her actions on March 22, aside from previous explanations of psychosis brought on by her diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia.
The jury then found Skana not guilty of murder.
The sentencing for manslaughter is expected to take place next Tuesday.
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