'My daughter was killed by a complete stranger. Something has to change'

Emily Jones was just seven years old when she was killed in the most horrifying way imaginable.

It was Mother's Day, the day before the UK was plunged into its first coronavirus lockdown, and Emily's dad Mark had taken his daughter to Queens Park, in Bolton, to meet her mother.

As he watched Emily race along the park's sloping paths on her scooter, Mark could never have imagined the horror that was about to unfold before his eyes.

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Just moments later, as Emily rode along in the afternoon sunshine, a stranger leapt from a bench and cut her throat. It was a killing that shocked the nation and shattered Mark and his family's lives forever.

It's a feeling he will never forget as long he lives.

"I have beat myself up about it over the years," he said. "Why did we go to the park on that day? Why did I not stay closer to her when she was on the scooter?

"But it wasn't me that did it. There was no threat as far as I could see. There was no one there, just a lone lady sitting on a bench. I thought she posed no threat whatsoever."

Mark had taken to Emily to the park on March 22, 2020 to meet her mother, Sarah Barnes, who was out running. The couple were no longer together but were on good terms.

Mark brought Emily's scooter along with them so she could ride around the park while waiting for her mother. As Emily raced her scooter through the park, she spotted her mum in the distance.

“Daddy, daddy, I want to go to mum,” Emily told her dad, seeking his approval to go on ahead.

He agreed and the excited youngster set off in pursuit. But as she scooted off along one of the park's many crisscrossing paths, she was