Inquest anguish for dad of tragic Emily
FATHER OF GIRL STABBED IN PARK FRUSTRATED BY DELAYS
THE FATHER of a schoolgirl killed by a mentally ill woman has spoken of his ‘frustration’ at the inquest process.
Emily Jones, seven, was knifed to death as she rode through Queens Park in Bolton on her scooter on Mother’s Day 2020.
Eltiona Skana, then 30, slit the little girl’s throat with a craft knife she had bought from a pound shop on that fateful day on March 22.
Skana, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was convicted of manslaughter, by means of diminished responsibility, and was sentenced to life in prison.
She must serve a minimum term of 10 years and eight months. She was also made subject to a hospital order.
She will be sent to prison once doctors decide she is in an appropriate state, if this never happens she will remain in hospital indefinitely. An appeal to have her sentence reduced was rejected by the Court of Appeal last February.
In December 2021 a coroner ruled an inquest should be held into her death but that it would not be held until the full circumstances of ‘how a psychologically disordered individual came to be in the community and how the risk to the community was assessed and managed’ were known.
The final hearing, expected to last several days, is currently scheduled to begin in the week commencing May 2 this year.
A pre-inquest review hearing was held at Bolton Coroner’s Court on Monday. The hearing was told that there was still some evidence yet to be submitted in the case.
And Emily’s father Mark Jones said: “I just find the process very frustrating. Deadlines are set and are never adhered to. It’s like groundhog day coming here all the time.” Mr Jones made the comment after correspondence he sent to the coroner’s office airing his frustration was referred to by the coroner.
Mr Jones legal representative, Sefton Kawsnik said: “It was three years and five days ago when these events happened. When Mr Jones was last in court on October 27, five months ago, he heard various deadlines being set including disclosure by the trust of statements by December 21 and that still hasn’t happened.
“I think he’s concerned that he’s representing Emily, whose inquest this is. It’s not his, nor mine, nor the trust’s. This is an inquest into the death of Emily. And he feels in a sense he’s doing everything that he can to assist everything so far.
“Yet he now finds himself four to five weeks away from undertaking an inquest when it’s still not fully together. He’s concerned that he might be being made to rush into a final hearing through no fault of his own.”
Senior coroner Timothy Brennand said to Mr Jones: “I am sorry you saw fit to communicate in those very clear and upsetting terms.” He added that he wanted to address Mr Jones’ concerns as he didn’t want him to feel there were ‘in any way being swept under the carpet.’