She was a lovely girl... there could be no reason for anyone to harm her

PARENTS DEMAND ANSWERS AT INQUEST INTO DEATH OF GIRL KILLED IN ATTACK

- THOMAS GEORGE

THE parents of a schoolgirl who was killed in a horrific attack in a park on Mother's Day have demanded answers as an inquest into her death gets under way.

Emily Jones, seven, was stabbed to death as she rode through Queens Park in Bolton on her scooter on March 22, 2020.

Eltiona Skana, then 30, slit the little girl's throat with a craft knife she had bought from a pound shop earlier that day.

More than three years on from the Mother's Day killing, an inquest into Emily's death has started at Bolton Coroners Court.

On its opening day yesterday, her parents recalled the horrifying events of the day their daughter was killed.

Mark Jones, Emily's father, said he had taken his daughter to the park so she could ride her scooter and meet her mother, Sarah Barnes, who was out jogging. Upon seeing her mother, Emily - a pupil at Markland Hill Primary School - said: "Daddy, Daddy, I want to go to mum."

As Emily rode off on her scooter, the inquest heard that she was grabbed by Skana - a complete stranger who had pounced from a nearby bench. Mr Jones said he heard his daughter crying and initially assumed she had fallen. from her scooter. But as he approached Emily, he noticed she was bleeding from her neck.