The father of a schoolgirl who was stabbed to death in a park has spoken of his "disappointment" and "concern" over the upcoming inquest into her death.
Emily Jones, 7, 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.
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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 later rejected by the Court of Appeal.
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 set to begin on May 2 - more than three years on from Emily's death.
Emily's father Mark Jones spoke of his "frustration" over the inquest process at a hearing last month. At a further pre-inquest review today (Friday), he shared similar concerns, telling a coroner he was "concerned" and "disappointed" by the process.
Speaking following a series of lengthy legal discussions, he said: "Sitting through the criminal process, I found that a lot easier to understand than this. I find it very, very confusing.
"I'm very concerned about the whole process. I don't see what we are going to get from it. It's concerning to me and it's concerning for the family."
Mr Jones said he believed several key issues were being "bypassed" by the coroner.
"I'm very disappointed by the whole process," he added. "I haven't got much hope that we will get anything from it, but we will see."
Responding to Mr Jones's concerns, senior coroner Timothy Brennand said the aim of the inquest was to determine whether Emily's death was "wholly preventable".
He added that the inquest process was "more nuanced" than the "binary" process of the criminal courts.
Mr Jones legal representative, Sefton Kawsnik, also told the hearing that the family felt "rushed" and that there had been "an insufficiency of time" for them to review some of the evidence in the case.
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