A paranoid schizophrenic who admitted slitting a seven-year-old girl's throat in a park has been cleared of murder.
Eltiona Skana had admitted the manslaughter of Emily Jones on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but was on trial after pleading not guilty to murder.
On Thursday, evidence had been heard from a consultant forensic psychiatrist who has been treating the 30-year-old at high-security Rampton Hospital.
A day later, the prosecution told Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester that there was no realistic prospect of a conviction on the murder charge.
The murder charge was withdrawn on Friday and the jury directed to return a not guilty verdict.
Skana will be sentenced for manslaughter on Tuesday.
Emily had been taken to Queen's Park in Bolton by her father on Mother's Day in March and was riding her scooter when she spotted her mother, Sarah Barnes, who was jogging.
The youngster was calling out to her mother as she scooted past a park bench where Skana was sitting, alone, with a craft knife which she had taken from a pack of three that she had bought earlier that day from a shop in Bolton town centre.
Skana got up, grabbed Emily and slit her throat, before throwing the child to the ground and running off.
There had been no interaction between Skana and Emily prior to the attack.
The defendant, originally from Albania, was later detained under the Mental Health Act.
