Emily Grace Jones was born in Bolton on the 18th of January 2013 to parents Sarah and Mark Mark worked as a credit manager and Sarah was a solicitor Emily was their only child Emily was described as being full of joy and laughter with a heart as big as her smile she loved the Great Outdoors and playing sports throwing herself into anything and everything she was fearless and loved to go hiking and climbing as well as swimming and riding horses Mark said his daughter was a bit of a daredevil who

was sociable in our going her teacher said she was creative and loved to draw and write stories she was very popular with those in her class and got along with everyone bright and hardworking she would often joke with her teachers that she had finished her work before her classmates had even written the date although Mark and Sarah were no longer together they were still on good terms and committed to co-parenting Emily mark would usually look after Emily on Sundays and he and Sarah had arranged to meet in Queen’s Park on Sunday the 22nd

of March 2020 he that Sunday was Mother’s Day and Emily had given her mother a card that morning to celebrate at around 2:15 p.m. Emily and Mark were in the park and she was whizzing around on her scooter and her dad was encouraging her to go faster Emily saw Sarah who was jogging and said to Mark Daddy Daddy I want to go to Mom he told her she could and she set off Emily called out to Sarah but Sarah did didn’t hear her because she had headphones in and was too far away as Emily scooted over Mark saw a woman

stand up from a bench and go towards his daughter and Emily was suddenly on the ground but he was unsure exactly what had happened he assumed that she’d fallen over as he could hear her crying and that the woman was helping her up people nearby began shouting clearly horrified and distressed saying that his daughter had been stabbed the woman who had her Hood up briskly walked away with another knife in her hand Mark immediately ran over to his daughter she had a catastrophic injury to her neck and was struggling to breathe her dad

told her just stay with me Emily stay with me don’t leave me Sarah was still in the park but was unaware of what had happened Mark called her and a nurse came over and quickly began to try and help Emily she was deteriorating rapidly one of the people in the park at the time Tony kanty was there with his wife and baby daughter he ran after the woman who had been seen with Emily as she tried to flee the scene he wasn’t exactly sure what had happened or if she was armed but continued to chase her Tony’s wife gave Mark her baby’s muslin

cloth to try and stop Emily’s heavy bleeding the Emergency Services arrived within minutes and paramedics worked quickly to try and save her the first paramedic to get there saw Emily being hugged by her father from behind as she lay on the ground she was bleeding heavily and unconscious she was also in cardiac arrest the paramedics began to administer CPR and she was given adrenaline before being loaded into the air ambulance as he pursued her Tony’s wife told him that the woman had a knife on her but he still bravely carried on

disregarding his own safety instead prioritizing the safety of others he knocked the woman to the ground and sat on her to stop her from running away and also called 999 telling the operator there’s been an incident at Queens Park in Bolton and a child’s bleeding he also spoke about the woman woman I don’t know what she’s saying she is agitated his wife also heard the woman saying that she no longer needed injections Tony had killed her family and that he was killing her Tony told her you’re not well the police will help you the woman

said to Tony I don’t need you to tell me to be calm he proceeded to keep hold of her until the police arrived and took over hands turn put your take the bag down let me take your bag off stay still okay hands behind your back thank you are you seeing a child anywhere is she on her own right the child’s down there get down there quick the ID for yes it’s in my bag everything what is it in my bag ID everything she was subsequently taken into custody ahead what’s in you about Park ID and everything ID yes and the

knife and a knif kn yeah right time now is uh 1445 at this moment in time you’re under arrest and suspicion of attempted murder uh you do have to say anything but it main defensive you do not mention something when question that you later line in court and if you do so may be giv evidence okay your arrest is necessary to protect vulnerable people and to ensure a prompt and effective investigation to this offense yeah okay what’s your name El J corner Corner okay where do you live uh 19 Turnstone Road 19 Turnstone

yes right swe there just confirm you what’s in what’s inside your back you can control it’s just no no bumps no nothing it’s just my ID card ID card in my mom’s ID card yeah there’s a knife some water some juice okay nothing okay that’s it so there’s nothing nothing that’s going to Hur no a cordon was put up around the area and specialist officers were on the case trying to build a clear picture of what had happened Emily was taken to sford Royal hospital and the helicopter landed there at 3:27 p.m. she was ventilated and

given blood transfusions but remained in Cardiac Arrest tragically at 3:56 p.m. all the attempts to restart her heart had failed and Emily’s time of death was called this was now a murder inquiry the following day Sarah was given the awful task of formally identifying her daughter’s body a postmortem was carried out and it was determined that Emily had died from an insided wound to the neck in a statement her family said we are Beyond devastated that this random act of violence means we will never get to see our beautiful

little girl grow up into the wonderful young lady she was showing such promise of becoming it is truly heartbreaking to wake up to a world without Emily in it and we cannot comprehend why this has happened we would like to thank the members of the public that assisted Us in the park and express our gratitude to the emergency services for doing their utmost to save Emily’s life the community was in shock the teachers from her school were heartbroken and her head mistress pay tribute to her saying I want you to know

how much Emily was loved she will be missed by all all her friends and all the staff her loss has left a hole in our hearts and the school will never be the same again the police needed to start building a picture of their suspect the woman they had arrested was 30-year-old Ela scarner and she was detained under the mental health act Dr sanini Farrell was the uncalled doctor when she was arrested she was said to be cooperative and calm and when asked about her mental state she responded not very well she said she couldn’t remember anything

about the p but Dr Farrell said this appeared to be because she didn’t want to discuss it not because she couldn’t remember it Dr Farrell also described her as emotionless when she was arrested she was found to have wire tied around her toes a police officer asked what this was for and ala responded that it was to help her with her emotions before it was taken off she tried to tighten it around her toes again a doctor would later say that this was indicative of a psychotic action Elona scarner had been born in

February 1990 in Albania according to elona’s Sister their father had got into debt and in February 2012 Elona was forced to marry the man he owed money to and they then moved to Kuwait she flared in September the following year and returned to Albania in 2014 she left Albania again and this time headed to Frankfurt Germany and on the 11th of August her sister paid for her to go to the United Kingdom she was Tak VI Italy and France and entered the UK in a lry 2 days later on August the 13th she had made an application to the

home office for Asylum but this was rejected in June 2018 an appeal was made and this decision was reversed and she was then given a residency permit to remain in the country until the 28th of November 2020 and then leave to remain until November 2024 this was despite her later admitting to doctors that she had lied in her application and falsely said she was a victim of sexual exploitation something she had said to improve her chances of being allowed to stay in the country the home offic is not revealed if they were

informed that she had admitted to lying in March of 2015 her mental health was not in a good place and she was assessed by a doctor who determined that she had post-traumatic stress disorder and she was subsequently referred for treatment however she failed to turn up for her cognitive behavioral therapy session and her case was therefore closed just a few months later in July Elona had grabbed a knife and believed she was going to be attacked her sister reported it and eltona was sectioned and admitted to Royal Bolton hospital for

treatment she was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia like psychotic symptoms she believed her neighbors were planning to hurt her by using her electricity when she was granted leave by the hospital she would run away on several occasions after refusing oral medication she she was given antis psychotic medications via injection she did Lodge an appeal against being sectioned but on the 20th of August 2018 it was determined that she was well enough to be released as the feeling she had about her neighbors trying to hurt

her had reduced as had her feelings of being persecuted as part of being released she was visited by mental health workers between one and two times a week Ela complained about the injections of the antis psychotic medications saying she didn’t like the side effects in November 2015 she was taken off the medication but her mental health would soon deteriorate again on the 9th of December she told doctors at the sford Royal hospital that she was having auditory hallucinations on a daily basis it was reported that

elona’s own mother did not believe she should be on medication and didn’t agree with the decision to prescribe her any in January 2017 she refused to let her care coordinator come into her property and did not attend a scheduled meeting her sister was now greatly concerned about alona’s mental health and that she was suffering a relapse so she arranged for a team to visit her again on the 13th of February but before this could happen Ela would commit a shocking act of violence her mother had come to visit her and she had found that Elona had

been trying to hurt herself Elona led her mother upstairs and proceeded to chain the door shut she said that once she killed her mother everything thing would be okay she then attacked her with an iron stabbed her hand and was only stopped when a friend intervened she was subsequently arrested and detained under the mental health act it later emerged that she had disconnected the boiler removed the light bulbs in the property and got rid of her television she would again leave the hospital without permission and at 5:00

a.m. went to her friend’s house and demanded to speak to their 13-year-old daughter she was armed with a knife that she had taken from a restaurant the mother refused to let her inside and when she asked ala about what she had done to her hair Alona said she had cut her hair off rather than cutting off people’s heads she was returned to the hospital by police and on the 4th of may she was deemed fit for release all appeared to go quiet that was until March of 2018 Alona said she was not feeling well and requested to go back on injections

she said she was having hallucinations again the following year she asked to be taken off the injections and be on oral medication instead she remained stable and her family support appeared to help with her paranoia although she continued to avoid busy places and wore sunglasses to avoid eye contact her last visit with a mental health worker was on the 11th of March 2020 after having nun for 3 months it was so uneventful that the worker didn’t even make any notes just 11 days later later she would take Emily’s

life on the morning of the 22nd of March 2020 eltona had left her home at around 1:00 p.m. and headed into Bolton Town Center she purchased a pack of three crafting knives from a pound shop later telling a psychiatrist that she had bought them with the intention of killing someone she then went to Queen Park   I a witness later reported that he had seen a woman sitting on the ground with her legs crossed next to a bench and

added that she appeared to be agitated he noted that she had a vacant look on her face which also caught his attention he continued to watch her for around 4 minutes but as she didn’t say or do anything he headed home as Emily headed to Sarah she went past the bench ala was sat on with her Hood pulled up out of nowhere she stood up grabbed Emily into a headlock and launched a ferocious attack against the little girl stabbing her in the neck and slitting her throat police went to her flat and searched it and found a load of antis

psychotic medication totaling almost a month’s worth that hadn’t been taken a doctor would later say that suddenly coming off of medication could cause someone’s mental health to rapidly decline within just a few days she was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article she was remanded in custody and scheduled to appear at Manchester and sford magistrates court on Tuesday the 26th of May as the preliminary murder hearing gotten away at Manchester Crown Court Judge Richard mantel QC expressed his sympathy for Emily’s Family saying to

Mark I can’t imagine the level of pain you and your wife are going through at the moment and you have my personal and deepest sympathy as well as the sympathy of everyone involved in the courts process Mark was there for the hearing and owner appeared via a video link from rampton secure Hospital a high security psychiatric hospital where she was being held she entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and prosecutors were given 7 days to consider her plea they eventually

decided to push ahead with a murder trial it was now time for Elona scarner to go on trial for murder the prosecution told the jury that it would be for them to decide whether or not this was actually a case of manslaughter or if she was using her mental health condition as what they referred to a convenient excuse for what she had done the court heard evidence that whilst in hospitals she had spoken to a nurse and the conversation had pointed to this being something that had been planned therefore not manslaughter but

rather a premeditated and calculated killing it also emerged that from the middle of December 2019 to March 11th the following year she had not had any face-to-face contact with mental health workers in a report read out to the court one of the doctors said that Ela represented a very high risk of serious potentially fatal harm to others the court heard that whilst in hospital she had been reportedly watching a child’s television program when a child who looked like Emily appeared on the screen Elona began to

laugh hysterically she said to a nurse at the hospital like I said it’s been 3 months what do you want me to do cry all the time later telling the same nurse it was premeditated I waited in a park and and picked my Victim I did what I did then tried to run away it was noted that during these conversations she was not on her medication the court was told that on the 30th of July staff at the hospital had been observing what was referred to as strange Behavior with aliona telling nurses your body has gone to your soul

and we’re all going to die Dr John Crosby a consultant psychiatrist would tell the court that Elona scarner had paranoid schizophrenia and said this had caused her to suffer from delusions and lose touch with reality he said that there appeared to be no reason for Emily being singled out by her adding that it was his conclusion she was in the midst of a psychotic episode when she took Emily’s life it’s such a terrible rare random attack to my mind I can’t think of another reason why it could have occurred he

said in a statement read to the jury Mark said I do not know why this happened Emily was simply riding her scooter to her her mom I simply can’t explain it he said that Emily was a vulnerable Child full of innocence and wonder she was just starting off on her path of life and her future was cut short our future has also been taken away how can we enjoy life when the best part of it has been taken away evidence was given by a consultant forensic psychiatrist from the hospital where Alona was being held and it stated

that the possibility of her being convicted of murder was not realistic after the prosecution considered the medical evidence it was agreed it would not be fair to ask a jury to convict her of the offense of murder so the murder charge was withdrawn and the jury was formally instructed to return a not guilty verdict on the charge of murder Elona scarner was therefore convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility prosecutor Michael Brady QC told the court it is not a decision that has been taken lightly by the crown

it’s a decision taken with care and mindful of the sensitivity of the case having reviewed all the evidence in this case the crown has come to the conclusion that there is no longer any realistic Prospect of conviction breaking news and a woman who killed 7-year-old Emily Jones in a park in Bolton in March has been sentenced to life in prison Geral tubs outside the court in Manchester and she’s going to be held in a a secure Hospital Gerard and the judge um sentenced her as you say to be detained under uh section 45a

of the mental health act she has been imprisoned for life with a minimum of 8 years uh but she will initially be treated at rampton high security hospital if she’s deemed well enough to leave there she will go on to serve the rest of her sentence in hospital the judge said she had to be punished because she had made the decision uh to buy the knife she had made the decision to kill someone there was an element of culpability in her actions the judge said in his sentencing remarks the devastating effects of what you did will

live with Emily’s parents and doubtless others who knew Emily forever it is obvious that nothing I can do or say can restore Emily to her family or offer any real Comfort to them in their immense loss he said he was satisfied on the basis of the evidence given that she had paranoid schizophrenia saying that the nature and degree of it warranted her detention in hospital owner scarner will only be eligible for release after serving her minimum term and being assessed as no longer being a danger to the public the judge added if you are

never deemed fit for release you will remain in hospital or prison for the remainder of your  days it was later reported that her minimum term had been increased from 8 years to 10 years and 8 months the judge said that the original sentence had been calculated in error and added that he took full responsibility for it after her sentence was increased Mark said I will keep fighting tooth and nail for her to stay there for the rest of her life whether it’s 10 years or 20 it won’t be enough for me as far as I’m

concerned she’s a danger to the public for the rest of her life she’d do it again to any child I would bet my bottom dollar on  that at the inquest into Emily’s death the acting senior coroner Alan Walsh said in my 20 years as a coroner this is one of the most tragic deaths that I have dealt with and the loss of a beautiful innocent Lively intelligent and lovely 7-year-old in these circumstances is an unimaginable tragedy now a coroner has said the father of a seven-year-old girl killed by an asylum Seeker is entitled to feel

her killer should never have been allowed into the country Emily Jones was attacked as she scooted through a Bolton Park on Mother’s Day in 2020 her killer was Albanian Asylum Seeker Elona scanner who had a long history of poor mental health from the inquest into Emily’s death here’s our north of England reporter Kelly foren despite scarner being well known to Mental Health Services the coroner today said that the local community teams could not have predicted or prevented Emily’s death he added though that if nothing changes

nationally there is a risk to Future lives the whole profession of Psychiatry needs to come under the spotlight at some point I think it’s a real worry it’s just shocking so we’re just going to try and do our best and you know and in in Emily’s so Emily’s death doesn’t go in vain so uh yeah we’ll we’ll just keep plugging away right just try to promote mental health awareness and the dangers of relapse and not monitoring mental health I’ve met with other families in the greater Manchester area that have been affected by uh

you know by homicides and lack of funding in in mental health it’s everybody knows this you know in the light of Emily’s killing and the issues around scarner care in the community Bolton coroner Timothy Brennan said he’d be writing a regulation 28 prevention of future death report to the Secretary of State he said it will make clear my profound concerns about morale workload training staff shortages and inability to deliver continuity of care he said the case showed a sector of Health Care provision that is challenging and Riven

with operational stress and tension I sense a health care sector in crisis but he didn’t believe scanner’s Behavior could have been predicted by her mental health Team Emily’s father however said those tasked with monitoring scarner failed to realize just how dangerous she was it’s just shocking and um it’s it’s a real it’s been a real dis most distressing part of everything is listened to these so-called experts that just completely different opinions on and no one really understood as far as I’m concerned the threat that the

perpetrator posed when talking about Alona the coroner Timothy Brennan said she had been deliberately masking her deteriorating condition meaning that the mental health workers didn’t know she was not taking her medication or that she was relapsing he added that only with the benefit of hindsight could ela’s actions have been predicted we heard today from Ela scanner’s sister who said that she was very unwell in the days and weeks leading up to the attack on seven-year-old Emily she’d been complaining of hearing voices in her

head now her sister told the inquest that there had been previous incidents of violence where she’d tried to attack her and her mother and there’ also been times where she’d been found with a knife outside screaming she’d also displayed other concerning Behavior including cutting pipes to a boiler and her sister clor said it was like living like a horror movie living with her now she disagreed with evidence given by scanner’s consultant psychiatrist earlier today who told the inquest that she was stable and hadn’t displayed any

relapse symptoms of Flor psychotic behavior in the weeks and months before the attack Emily’s Father Mark said that although he was glad the inquest was over he disagreed with the finding I cannot believe he has come to that conclusion he said they didn’t realize the threat she posed but it was their job to know they may be undefended and rushed off their feet but they are dangerous people I don’t think enough money goes into Mental Health Services but that’s no excuse especially when you’re dealing with dangerous

individuals I don’t feel like I have got closure I want to change the system it’s my daughter and it’s down to me to make this right following the inquest Mark’s lawyer said she twice told doctors that she had lied in her Asylum application she twice told doctors and police that she wanted to go home in 2015 and 2017 and the home office offered no explanation as to why they ignored these important clues in her presentation a home office spokesperson said we are carefully considering the findings from the inquest and any further

recommendations by the coroner Mark said he has not forgiven eliona for what she did I know people say it’s good for your mental health to forgive but in this instance I’m afraid I can’t how dare she touch my daughter how dare she put her hands on her so no I can’t forgive her Elona scarner would later appeal her sentence but this appeal was rejected Lady Justice mcco said that there was sufficient evidence to find Alona knew that what she did was wrong and attempted to escape detention and escape the scene Mark said he was

more relieved than happy that the appeal was rejected saying she’s a manipulative and dangerous individual and all three judges saw that today Elona scarner remains at rampton hospital where she’s being treated greater Manchester mental health NHS who had been responsible for elona’s care conducted a review in a statement they said we treat incidents of this kind with the utmost seriousness and completed an internal rigorous review whilst this identified learning for our services the review found there were no

markers of deterioration in Mis Garner’s mental state or behavior which would have foreseen this tragic event NHS England disagreed with the trust conclusion saying that it was clear she was unwell and posed a risk to others by 2017 their report said our most important finding is that the trust’s understanding of risk Concepts was poor Mark later demanded an apology from the trust saying that it was absolute nonsense they are just trying to relinquish all responsibility and she was their responsibility they knew she

didn’t comply with oral medication but they allowed her to take it on her own valtion that is a ridiculous thing to do she was a ticking Time Bomb I want the horrible story of what happened to my daughter to be told it’s not that I want people to feel sorry for us but it needs to be told because it’s an absolute public outrage following Emily’s death her school said they were going to have a memorial set up for her and more than £1,000 was raised the head teacher said she was blown away by the support the school had

received from the community Emily’s school friends were helping to design a garden in her memory something that would reflect Emily’s love of life in the outdoors also creating a space for people to go and remember her Mark teamed up with the charity hundred families which supports relatives of those killed by somebody suffering from mental illness to change the way patients are managed within the community he said someone said to me what are you trying to achieve from all this it’s not going to bring Emily back

it’s not but I don’t want another family to have to go through what we have been through I don’t want Emily’s death to have been in vain in another fitting tribute to Emily her mother Sarah launched a GoFundMe to raise money for Bolton Lads and Girls Club with the aim of helping children have support and access to various opportunities it raised nearly £3,000 and was a truly beautiful way to remember Emily for her devastated family and those Left Behind life will never be the same Emily was a bright and kind little

girl with her entire life ahead of her a life that would have undoubtedly been filled with joy and love and immense promise on what was a Sunday that should have been filled with joy and happiness her life was taken in the most appalling of circumstances and the aftermath of her death is quite simply devastating as Mark and Sarah said Emily was the beat in our hearts the spring in our step and the reason we got up every  morning for those of you that like to listen on the go we now have our episodes in podcast form and you can now

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