Mitchell case led way for judges
LUKE Mitchell was just 14 when he murdered his girlfriend Jodi Jones in Midlothian in 2003.
The killing saw Mitchell sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005.
Appeal judges in Aaron Campbell’s case referred to the teen’s sentence and noted the opinion of the judge, who suggested that “in sentencing a young first offender, the punishment part should, whilst marking the gravity of the offence, leave hope that the young person can be rehabilitated as a useful member of society”.
The appeal judges also noted sentences handed down in serious cases involving adults, including that of the Lockerbie bomber.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, was sentenced to 27 years before being released on compassionate grounds due to terminal illness.
They also noted the case of Scots squaddie Andrew Walker, who was jailed for least 30 years for the murders of the three members of the Scots Guards during a Penicuik payroll heist in 1985. He was released on compassionate grounds after a stroke.
The appeal judges in Campbell’s case said it is difficult to compare one case with another but from these cases it can be seen that “even for an adult, a punishment part of 27 years would be reserved to mark only very serious crimes”.
It added: “One would expect the sentence on a youth for comparable crimes to be proportionately lower.”