By Sammie Jones-
A paranoid schizophrenic who admitted slitting a seven-year-old girl’s throat in a park has been cleared of murder. The family of the girl are understandably distraught.
Eltiona Skana admitted the manslaughter of Emily Jones on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but was on trial after pleading not guilty to murder. Skana, originally from Albania, had been admitted in psychiatric hospital three times.
In 2017, Skana had stabbed her own mother, and in another incident attacked her sister and had been admitted to psychiatric hospitals three times. On Thursday, evidence had been heard from a consultant forensic psychiatrist who has been treating the 30-year-old at high-security Rampton Hospital.
A day later, the prosecution told Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester that there was no realistic prospect of a conviction on the murder charge. The murder charge was withdrawn on Friday and the jury directed to return a not guilty verdict. The verdict is heart breaking.
Emily had been taken to Queen’s Park in Bolton by her father on Mother’s Day in March and was riding her scooter when she spotted her mother, Sarah Barnes, who was jogging.
The youngster was calling out to her mother as she scooted past a park bench where Skana was sitting, alone, with a craft knife which she had taken from a pack of three she had bought earlier that day from a shop in Bolton town centre.
Skana got up, grabbed Emily and slit her throat, before throwing the child to the ground and running off. Michael Brady QC told the court there had been no interaction between Skana and Emily prior to the attack, Michael Brady QC, prosecuting, told the court.
During the court proceedings, the prosecution said that, although it was accepted the defendant does have, and has had, mental health difficulties for a number of years, it was for the jury to decide whether this was a case of murder rather than manslaughter.
Prosecutors questioned whether Skana’s poor mental health was a “convenient excuse” for her actions.
Jurors heard that Skana told a nurse while in Rampton: “It was premeditated, I waited in a park and picked my victim, I did what I did then tried to run away.”
However, the court was also told the conversation took place at a time when Skana was not taking her anti-psychotic medication as part of a change in treatment at the hospital.
When police raided her flat in Bolton after her arrest they found a stash of untaken, anti-psychotic drugs, which amounted to around a month’s worth of medication.
The court heard she had been emitting and relapsing, leading to psychotic violence when in relapse?”
Dr Afghan replied: “Violence while under psychosis, while she’s been psychotic she’s been violent, yes.