"It just came out of the blue": Horrific killing of Emily Jones could not have been predicted, psychiatrist says

The horrific killing of Bolton schoolgirl Emily Jones could not have been predicted and 'came out of the blue', an inquest has heard.

The seven-year-old was stabbed to death as she rode her scooter through Queens Park in Bolton on March 22, 2020. Eltiona Skana, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, slit Emily's throat with a craft knife she had bought from a pound shop earlier that day.

Skana, who was 30 at the time of the attack, was later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of manslaughter, by means of diminished responsibility.

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More than three years on from the horrific Mother's Day killing, an inquest is being held into Emily's death. The psychiatrist responsible for Skana's treatment in the lead up to the attack gave evidence on the second day of the hearing at Bolton Coroner's Court today.

Dr Raj Dangi said he remained 'baffled' by her actions on that fateful day.

"I have still not been able to understand why someone would behave in such a horrendous way towards an innocent little girl," he told the hearing.

"There was nothing to indicate that in the preceding days she was floridly psychotic. It just came out of the blue."

The inquest has previously heard that Skana was sectioned twice before, in 2015 and 2017, following relapses of her schizophrenia. On the second occasion, she locked her mother in a bedroom before attacking her with an iron.

However, Dr Dangi told the inquest it was not possible to determine whether Skana's actions on the day of Emily's killing were caused solely by her being 'in the grip of psychosis'. He said he believed she may have had been suffering from an undiagnosed mental health