She was just riding her scooter heading to see her mom. A normal day in the park. Mother’s Day, sunshine, people all around, her dad right there beside her, and then everything changed. A woman in a hoodie stood up from a bench, took a few steps forward, one quick movement, and 8-year-old Emily collapsed to the ground.
At first, her father thought she had just fallen. Like maybe she lost her balance or hit something. But then people nearby started screaming, and suddenly it became clear. A stranger had just attacked a child in the middle of the day. Why Emily? How does a simple walk in the park turn into something that shocks an entire country? And how did it turn out that the woman responsible had been showing warning signs for a long time? Signs that somehow no one managed to stop.
This is the story of Emily Jones. Emily Grace Jones was born in Bolton on January 18, 2013 to her parents Sarah and Mark. Mark worked as a credit manager while Sarah was a solicitor. Emily was their only child. People described her as a girl full of joy and laughter with a heart just as big as her smile.
She loved the outdoors and sports, throwing herself completely into anything she did. She was fearless, always ready to hike, climb, swim, or ride horses. Mark would later say his daughter was a bit of a daredevil, outgoing, and incredibly open with people. Her teacher remembered Emily as a creative child who loved drawing and writing stories.
She was popular with her classmates and got along with everyone. Smart and hardworking, she would even joke with her teachers that she had already finished her work before her classmates had even written the date at the top of the page. Even though Mark and Sarah were no longer together, they stayed on good terms and remained committed to raising Emily together.
Mark usually spent Sundays with his daughter and that day they had planned to meet Sara at Queen’s Park. Guys, let me pause for just a second. I’m really curious where you’re watching from. So, drop your city and what time it is for you in the comments. I’d love to see where everyone’s tuning in from.
Thanks for sticking with me and now let’s continue. That day was Mother’s Day and that morning Emily gave her mom a card she had made. At around 2:15 in the afternoon, Emily and Mark were at the park. She was riding her scooter, speeding past him while he cheered her on, encouraging her to go faster. Then Emily spotted Sara, who was out running, and said, “Daddy, Daddy, I want to go to Mom.
” He told her she could and Emily rode off toward her. Emily called out to Sara, but she didn’t hear her. She had headphones on and was too far away. As Emily rode her scooter, Mark noticed a woman get up from a nearby bench and start walking toward his daughter. And then, in the next moment, Emily was on the ground. But Mark didn’t realize what had just happened.
[music] At first, he thought she had simply fallen. He could hear her crying and it looked like the woman was helping her get back up. People nearby began screaming, clearly shocked and terrified, [music] shouting that his daughter had been stabbed. A woman, her hood pulled over her head, quickly walked away, a knife still in her hand.
Mark ran to Emily instantly. She [music] had a catastrophic injury to her neck and was struggling to breathe. Holding her, he said, “Just stay with me, Emily. [music] Stay with me. Don’t leave me.” Sara was still in the park, unaware of what had happened. Mark called her and within moments a nurse rushed over and immediately began trying to help Emily.
But her condition was deteriorating fast. One of the people in the park, Tony Canty, had been there with his wife and their young daughter. He saw the woman who had been near Emily and took off after her as she tried to flee. He didn’t fully understand what had happened or whether she was armed, but he kept going.
Tony’s wife handed Mark a gauze cloth they had for their baby trying to help stop the heavy bleeding. Emergency services arrived within minutes and paramedics quickly began fighting to save Emily’s life. When a paramedic reached the scene, he saw Emily lying on the ground, her father holding her from behind. She was bleeding heavily and had lost consciousness.
Her heart had already stopped. They began CPR and administered adrenaline, then rushed her onto an air ambulance. As Tony chased the woman, his wife shouted that she had a knife, but he didn’t stop. Honestly, he kept going without thinking about his own safety, putting others first. He managed to tackle her to the ground and pinned her there so she couldn’t escape.
At the same time, he called 999, telling the operator there had been an incident at Queen’s Park in Bolton and that a child was bleeding badly. He also said, “I don’t understand what she’s saying. She’s extremely agitated.” Tony’s wife later said she heard the woman shouting that she no longer needed injections, that Tony had killed her family, and that he was trying to kill her.
Tony tried to calm her down saying, “You’re not well. The police are going to help you.” But the woman responded, “I don’t need you telling me to calm down.” He held her there until police arrived and took control of the situation. Yeah, what the officer’s going to Hans. Turn over. Just put your Take the bag down.
>> Right, right. Want to take your bag off? Yes. >> Okay. Hands behind your back. Thank you. Stupid. She’s just I think she’s killed someone. I’m alerting the police now. Is it Have you seen a child anywhere? Yes, she Yes, she’s killed someone. Is she on her own? >> No. Right. There’s a child down there.
Get down there quick. The ID of the female. Yes, it’s in my bag. Soon after, she was taken into custody. What’s in your bag, love? ID and everything. >> ID? >> Yes, and the knife. Right, time now is 14:45 at this moment in time. You’re under arrest on suspicion of attempted murder. Now, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention something when questioned that you later rely on in court.
And anything you do say may be given in evidence. Okay? Your arrest is necessary to protect vulnerable people and to ensure a prompt and effective investigation to this offense. Okay? >> What’s your name? Elpida Sgourou. Elpida Sgourou. Okay. Where do you live? Uh 19 Turnstall Road. 19 Turnstall? >> Yes. Right, sweater. Just confirm to you, what’s in What’s inside your bag? >> You can control.
There’s just No No bombs. No nothing. It’s just my ID card. >> ID card? >> And 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 hurt me. No? No. Okay. The area around the scene was sealed off, and specialist officers began carefully reconstructing what had happened.
Emily was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital. The helicopter landed at 3:27 in the afternoon. Doctors placed her on a ventilator and carried out a blood transfusion, but she remained clinically dead. At 3:56, she was pronounced dead. At that point, this had officially become a murder investigation. The following day, Sarah was asked to identify her daughter’s body.
A postmortem confirmed that Emily had had died from a stab wound to the neck. In a statement, the family said, “We are devastated. We will never get to see our little girl grow up. It’s unbearable to live in a world without Emily and not understand why this happened. We want to thank everyone who tried to help and the emergency services for fighting so hard to save her.
” The community was in shock. Teachers were heartbroken. The school’s headteacher said, “Emily was deeply loved. She will be missed by everyone. Her loss has left a void, and the school will never be the same again.” Police began building a profile of the suspect. She was identified as 30-year-old Olana Skarna, who was detained under the Mental Health Act.
Dr. Sanini Farrell, who was present during the arrest, described her as calm and detached. When asked how she was feeling, she simply replied, “Not very well.” She claimed she didn’t remember anything, but doctors believed it was less about memory loss and more about her refusing to talk.
During the arrest, officers found a piece of wire wrapped tightly around her toes. She said it helped her control her emotions and even tried to tighten it further. Doctors later described this as a clear sign of psychosis. Olana was born in Albania in 1990. According to her sister, she was forced into marriage because of her father’s debts and later moved to Kuwait.
At one point, she managed to escape, returned, and eventually relocated to Germany. In 2014, she arrived in the United Kingdom through Italy and France and applied for asylum. At first, she was denied. But, after an appeal, she was allowed to stay even though she later admitted that parts of her application were not truthful.
Back in 2015, doctors diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder. She never attended therapy and the case was eventually closed. Just a few months later, she grabbed a knife believing someone was about to attack her. She was admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital with clear psychotic symptoms convinced that her neighbors were trying to harm her.
She repeatedly tried to leave the hospital and refused to take her medication. So, doctors began administering injections instead. Over time, her condition improved and she was eventually discharged. After that, psychiatric services continued to check in on her regularly, but she complained about the side effects of the medication.
In November, her treatment was stopped and not long after that, her condition began to decline again. She told doctors at Salford Royal Hospital that she was hearing voices every single day. Her mother didn’t believe she needed medication and was strongly against her treatment. In 2017, Alona refused to let her care coordinator into her home and missed a scheduled appointment.
Her sister suspected a relapse and tried to arrange help. But, even before that, something deeply [music] concerning had already happened. At one point, Alona locked her own mother inside a room and told her that once she killed her, everything would be okay. She then attacked her with an iron and a knife. She was stopped and hospitalized again.
It later came out that she had been cutting pipes, unscrewing light bulbs, and her behavior was becoming more and more unstable. Not long after she escaped [music] from the hospital. At 5:00 in the morning, she showed up at an acquaintance’s home with a knife demanding to speak to the woman’s [music] 13-year-old daughter.
They refused to let her in and police returned her to the hospital. After her discharge, [music] things seemed to calm down but only for a while. In 2018, she began complaining about hallucinations again and asked to be put back on injections. Later, she switched to pills and for a time appeared stable. But she avoided people and constantly hid behind her glasses.
On March 11, 2020, she had her last contact with psychiatric services. Everything seemed so calm that no notes were even made. 11 days later, she would kill Emily. On March 22, Ilona left her home, bought three knives from a discount store, and went to Queen’s Park. Later, she would admit she did it with the intention of killing someone.
One witness would later recall something that at the time didn’t seem like much. His attention had been drawn to a woman sitting near a bench. She was on the ground, legs crossed, looking agitated, but at the same time, strangely calm. Her expression was empty, like she wasn’t looking at people but straight through them.
He watched her for a few minutes. She didn’t move. She didn’t say a word. Eventually, he convinced himself there was nothing suspicious and walked away. Just minutes later, Emily rode past that same bench. She was simply heading toward her mom. And in that exact moment, everything changed. The woman suddenly jumped to her feet, rushed forward, grabbed Emily, and almost instantly stabbed her in the neck.
The attack was so fast, so sudden, no one had time to react. Later, during a search of her apartment, police would find nearly a month’s supply of antipsychotic medication untouched. She hadn’t been taking it. Doctors would later say that abruptly stopping treatment like that could, in just a matter of days, lead to a severe and rapid psychological breakdown.
She was charged with murder. As the case went to court, more and more details began to come out. It turned out that in the months leading up to the attack, she had essentially lost contact with psychiatric services. But, honestly, the most shocking part was something else. While she was in the hospital, she told a nurse, “It was planned.
I waited in the park, and I chose the victim.” Then she added, “I did what I did, and I tried to get away.” Those words sounded like a direct confession. The court also heard about other incidents, strange behavior, disturbing statements, and moments where she seemed completely detached from reality. But, the defense argued something very different.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr. John Crosby told the court that Olena Skarner was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. According to him, at the moment of the attack, she was in the middle of a psychotic episode, and simply did not understand reality. He also emphasized that there was no specific reason why Emily became the victim.
“This was a completely random, rare, and horrifying attack,” he said. “I cannot find any other explanation.” Mark took the stand. “I don’t know why this happened,” he said. “Emily was just riding to her mom.” Then he added, “She was only just beginning her life, and in a single moment, everything [music] was taken from us.
” In the end, the medical evidence became decisive. The prosecution concluded that there was no longer a realistic chance of securing a murder conviction. The murder charge was dropped. The court found Olena Skarner guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Prosecutor Michael Brady said, “This decision was not an easy one.
But after reviewing all the evidence, it became clear there was no realistic prospect of proving murder. And at that point, the entire direction of the case changed. Breaking news and the woman who killed 7-year-old Emily Jones in a park [music] in Bolton in March has been sentenced to life in prison.
Gerald Tubbs outside the court in Manchester and she’s going to be held in a a secure hospital, Gerald. And the judge um sentenced [music] her, as you say, to be uh detained under uh section 45A of the Mental Health Act. She has been sentenced 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 uh 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 uh in her action.
The judge made it clear that she still had to be held accountable because she made the decision to buy the knife and she made the decision to kill someone. There was, in his words, an element of responsibility in her actions. During sentencing, the judge said, “The devastating consequences of what you have done will remain with Emily’s parents forever and undoubtedly with everyone who knew her.
It is obvious that nothing I can say or do will bring Emily back to her family or provide them with any real comfort in their immense loss.” He went on to say that based on the evidence presented, he was satisfied that she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and that the nature and severity of her condition required her to be detained in a secure hospital.
Olona Skarna would only be eligible for release after serving a minimum term and only if she was no longer considered 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 rest of your life.” Later, it was reported that her minimum term was increased from 8 years to 10 years and 8 months.
The judge explained that the original sentence had been calculated incorrectly and took full responsibility for the error. After the sentence was increased, Mark said, “I will fight until the very end to make sure she stays there for the rest of her life. Whether it’s 10 years or 20, it’s not enough for me.
As far as I’m concerned, she is a danger to society for life. She would do this again to any child. I’m absolutely certain of that.” At the inquest into Emily’s death, the acting senior coroner, Alan Walsh, said, A coroner has said the father of a 7-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 Elpida Scanlon, who had a long history of poor mental health. From the inquest into Emily’s death, here’s our North of England reporter, Kelly Foran. Despite Scanlon being well known to mental health services, the coroner today said that the local community teams could not have predicted or prevented Emily’s [music] 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 [music] worry. It’s just shocking. So, [snorts] we’re just going to try and do our best and [music] you know, and in in Emily’s so Emily’s death doesn’t go in vain.
So, 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 [music] greater Manchester area that have been affected by uh you know, by homicides [music] and 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 Scanlon’s [music] 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. >> [music] >> He said, “It will make clear my profound concerns about morale, workload, training, staff [music] 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. [music] But he didn’t believe Scanlon’s behavior could have been predicted by her mental health team. Emily’s father, however, said those tasked with monitoring Scanlon 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 just most distressing part of everything is listening 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. Speaking about Alonna, coroner Timothy Brennan explained that she had been deliberately hiding the decline in her mental health.
Because of that, the mental health professionals working with her never had the full picture. They didn’t know she had stopped taking her prescribed medication and they had no idea that she had essentially relapsed. From the outside, things may have looked stable, like everything was under control, and um that’s exactly what made timely intervention so difficult.
There was nothing obvious enough to immediately raise alarm. He also pointed out that it’s only in hindsight that those warning signs become clear. Looking back, you can connect the dots, see the patterns, and start to understand where things were heading. But at the time, those signals just didn’t stand out strongly enough to predict what would happen next.
And that’s what makes it even more tragic. The realization that the answers only come when it’s already too late. We heard today from Elta Skanes sister who said that she was very unwell in the days and weeks leading up to the attack on 7-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’d also been times when 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 Clestorah said it was like living like a horror movie living with her.
Now, she disagreed with evidence given by Skanes consultant psychiatrist earlier today who told the inquest that she was stable and hadn’t displayed any relapse symptoms of florid psychotic behavior in the weeks and months before the attack. >> Emily’s father, Mark, said that even though the investigation had concluded, it brought him neither relief nor a sense of justice.
He admitted he still couldn’t accept the conclusions reached by the authorities and didn’t understand how something like this could have happened. I can’t believe they came to that conclusion. They say they didn’t realize the level of danger she posed, but that was their job to know, he said.
There was no anger in his voice, no shouting, just a deep, heavy exhaustion and the pain [music] of someone who had lived through the worst possible loss. He added that maybe the services were overwhelmed, maybe they were stretched too thin, but that still couldn’t be [music] an excuse when it came to dangerous individuals.
I understand the system is under pressure, that there aren’t enough resources, but that doesn’t mean you can miss signals like this. These are dangerous people, and when they slip through the cracks, the consequences can be fatal, he explained. Mark also made it clear that for him, this story still isn’t over.
He hasn’t found answers, and he doesn’t feel that justice has [music] truly been served. I don’t feel any closure. I don’t feel like this is the end. This is my daughter, and I have to make sure something like this never happens again, he said. After the inquest, more details came to light, details that only deepened the feeling that this tragedy might have been preventable.
Mark’s lawyer stated that Elona had, on two separate occasions, directly admitted to doctors that she had lied in her asylum application, that she had knowingly provided false information in order to remain in the country. In addition to that, in 2015 and 2017, she told doctors and even police that she wanted to return home.
These weren’t vague hints or indirect signals. They were clear, direct statements that could have triggered further action or a review of her case. But, as it later became known, those warnings led to no serious decisions. When these facts became public, a spokesperson for the Home Office gave a brief response, saying they were carefully reviewing the findings of the inquest and the coroner’s recommendations, but they did not explain why those earlier warning signs had been ignored.
For Mark, it still wasn’t enough. Because for him, this wasn’t just an official case or a statistic, this was his daughter’s life. He openly admitted that he could not forgive the person who took Emily’s life. I I people say forgiveness helps you move on, but in this case I can’t. I just can’t make myself do it, he said.
His words became even more intense when he spoke about the moment of the attack. How dare she touch my daughter? How dare she raise a hand against her? No, I can’t forgive her. And in that moment, it was clear this was a kind of pain that would never truly go away. Later, Ilona Szwarner appealed her sentence, meaning the case was brought back to court, forcing the family to relive every detail of the tragedy all over again. But the appeal was denied.
Lady Justice Macur stated that there was sufficient evidence to show that Ilona understood her actions and that she had attempted to flee [music] both from the scene and afterward. That became a key point because the court was essentially acknowledging that this wasn’t just illness, there was also a level of awareness.
After the decision, Mark said he didn’t feel happiness. I’m not happy. I just feel relieved. She’s a dangerous person and now that’s clear to everyone, he said. Ilona Szwarner remains at Rampton Hospital where she continues to receive treatment. After the tragedy, the services responsible for her care conducted an internal review and stated that there had been no warning signs that could have predicted such an attack. But NHS England disagreed.
In their report, they said that as far back as 2017, it was already clear she posed a risk to others and that the real issue was a failure to properly understand that risk and a serious underestimation of her condition. That conclusion only highlighted the gaps between different agencies and raised serious questions about a system that’s supposed to prevent tragedies like this.
Mark reacted strongly to those statements, [music] calling them an attempt to avoid responsibility. That’s complete nonsense. They’re just trying to shift the blame. They knew she wasn’t taking her medication and they still allowed her to remain without proper supervision. “That was dangerous and they knew it.” he said.
He added that in his view, she was like a ticking time bomb and that what happened was only a matter of time. Despite everything, [music] the pain, the loss, Mark made a decision not to stop, but to try to change things. He joined the organization 100 Families, which supports relatives of people who have died in similar circumstances and advocates for changes in the mental health system.
“Someone told me this won’t bring Emily back and that’s true, but I don’t want another family to go through what we went through. I don’t want my daughter’s death to be in vain.” he said. After Emily’s death, her school announced plans to create a memorial in her honor and the community responded in a powerful way. Funds were raised and her friends helped design a garden, a place meant for remembrance and quiet reflection.
Somewhere people could come, sit and think about her. It was a way to preserve a part of her life and to show just how much she meant to everyone who knew her. Emily’s mother, Sarah, also took action. She launched a fundraiser for the Bolton Lads and Girls Club, hoping to help other children access support and opportunities.
Nearly 3,000 pounds were raised, another way to honor Emily’s memory by doing something good in the face of tragedy. But for the family, none of that changes the reality. Life will never be the same again. Emily was a bright, kind and genuine child with her whole life ahead of her, a life that should have been filled with joy, love and endless possibilities.
And on a day that was supposed to be normal, even happy, everything was taken away. The loss left behind a void that can never truly be filled. As Mark and Sarah once said, Emily was the rhythm of their hearts, the reason they woke up every morning, the meaning of their lives. And now, without her, they are left to carry that emptiness forward, something nothing and no one can ever replace.
And that’s where this story comes to an end. But, cases like this are a reminder that reality can sometimes be more terrifying than anything you see in a movie. Because behind every story like this, there are real people, real events, and questions that may never have answers. If you found this story meaningful, support the channel, leave a like, share your thoughts in the comments, and make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future videos.
There are many more stories ahead, mysterious, chilling, and at the same time deeply compelling.
