AN inquest is to be held into the death of tragic schoolgirl Emily Jones after a coroner ruled that criminal proceedings involving her killer did not sufficiently investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.

In December last year paranoid schizophrenic Eltiona Skana was sentenced to life imprisonment for the manslaughter of seven-year-old Emily, who she stabbed to death in Queens Park, Bolton, on Mothers' Day.

Detained at Rampton secure psychiatric hospital, she will remain locked up for at least 10 years and eight months before she is eligible to apply for parole.

When criminal proceedings as a result of a death take place, normally an inquest is not also held because the the facts will have been sufficiently aired in public.

But at a pre-inquest review at Bolton Coroner's Court, senior coroner Timothy Brennand decided that issues surrounding Skana's involvement with mental health services and her risk management in the community prior to Emily's death require further investigation.

Skana was not seen by a psychiatric nurse for three months until 11 days before she killed the schoolgirl and although she had been given injections of anti-psychotic medication, at her own request, she was transferred to oral medication which she did not take in the period leading up to the crime.

The inquest will consider whether more could have been done to have prevented the killing.

Emily's dad, Mark Jones, was at the hearing and his solicitor, Sefton Kwasnik requested that the inquest should also consider how Skana, an illegal immigrant from Albania with a history of mental illness and violence, was allowed to remain in the UK after falsely claiming she had been trafficked.

Giving reasons for his decision to hold an inquest into Emily's death Mr Brennand: "It seems to me there is a potential gap in relation to what was achieved in the Crown Court process and what is properly to be considered within the coronial purpose."

He added: "The family deserve certainty. They have waited for long enough. It is the families of the bereaved who should be first, foremost and central in the process.

"There is a potential in this case for matters to not only touch and concern the tragedy of the events of March 2020 and the full circumstances of that day but also in relation to the management and risk assessment of Miss Skana, both in the immediacy of the event and also in relation to the ongoing, and what I would presume to be dynamic risk assessment which may well have been made of her and also, potentially, the circumstances in which she was released into the community."

An independent investigation commissioned by NHS England into the way Skana was managed by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust is due to report next month and a further pre-inquest review is set to take place in February to consider its scope. The full inquest, which is expected to last for five days, has been listed to take place in June.

Speaking after the hearing Mr Kwasnik said Emily's family welcomed the decision to hold an inquest as it will hopefully address unanswered questions they still have.