Luke Mitchell won’t say he’s guilty? He doesn’t have to.. a jury has said he is
HAYLEY McQUEEN ON FATHER’S DEMENTIA Legend Gordon’s been unwell for two years, TV host reveals
CAN you imagine discovering your child was so horribly mutilated they were almost bisected?
Of learning the knife that plunged into their neck so many times almost took their head off ?
Of knowing your child suffered unimaginable pain and terror in the final few minutes of their life? Then imagine that 10 months later someone your daughter knew and trusted is arrested and charged, later to be convicted of murdering your child. The notoriety in death you know she would hate should be over. Time for the killer to fade into obscurity and for the family to be left alone with their grief and their memories. Justice has been done.
Imagine, then, that the killer refuses to go and do his time quietly. Imagine that for the next 17 years you are faced with very frequent outbursts and screaming from the rooftops that the evidence was flawed and someone else, maybe a few someone elses, killed your child.
That’s what Judy Jones and her family have endured since 14-yearold Jodi was brutally murdered by her boyfriend Luke Mitchell in Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, in 2003 and he was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.
Four appeal attempts to overturn his conviction have failed, including Miscarriage of Justice investigators refusing his pleas for a review.
This week the documentary Murder in a Small Town was released, heavily in favour of Mitchell
and his self-proclaimed innocence. It attempted to tear apart the police investigation, the prosecution of Mitchell and it even named a man (conveniently now dead) they declared as a possible suspect. No, wait, it named four or five other possible suspects.
In an attempt to add some gravitas to their findings, the producers hired two ex-Strathclyde police officers who, they boasted, had 50 years’ experience as detectives between them.
They were going to prove Mitchell had been the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice and has served 17 years for a crime he couldn’t possibly have committed.
Such was their eagerness to throw fuel on to the fire and win round a whole new generation of “Luke Mitchell is innocent” supporters, the programme gave only cursory mentions to the victim herself – it almost came across as saying Luke’s life was ruined because a young woman was murdered.
We had Mitchell’s mother, Corinne, sobbing that she had lost her son. No, her son is alive and well. Judy Jones truly lost her daughter. Judy Jones can only visit her daughter’s grave. She doesn’t get phone calls or visits.
We were told Corinne Mitchell has suffered terribly since her son was convicted but nobody mentions the suffering of Jodi and her family. There was no sympathy for the victim. There was a weird experiment where they tried to discredit a witness by saying she couldn’t possibly have seen Luke and Jodi when she drove past because well, drivers don’t notice things do they? To prove their point, the ex-detectives had a relative drive round the route. “Did you see anything?” “No…” Right, back round you go again. They repeated this three times and made a big show of telling her to keep her eyes peeled. One of the people on the path where Jodi died cut his hair the next day. Right, he’s suspect then. A local drug addict, sneaking to the wooded path to ingest a huge cocktail of drugs, had a scratch on his face the next day. That makes him suspicious then. Wait, he looks a little like Luke Mitchell from a distance (and if you squint your eyes). Let’s name him as a possible suspect. He’s dead anyway. We have another suspect but we can’t tell you who he is and we can’t tell you why but we have proof he is the killer. I thought my ears were playing tricks when they insinuated the real killer could have been an older member of Jodi’s family.
But he passed a lie detector test? Let’s leave the American-style dramatics for Jeremy Kyle and remind ourselves they’re not admissible in Scottish courts for good reason, one being they are not 100 per cent accurate.
By the end of the programme, viewers were told the police investigation was flawed, that there’s a whole slew of other people it could have been, there’s a violent murderer (who’s only killed once in 18 years) on the loose, Luke and his mother’s lives have been ruined and he will stay in prison for the rest of his life if he has to.
Corinne Mitchell said: “He will never, ever say he is guilty of something he is not guilty of – why would you do that?”
He doesn’t have to, Corinne – he doesn’t have to.
A jury said he is.
There were only cursory mentions of Jodi and no sympathy
SINGER Cheryl gave charity fundraiser Billy Monger a surprise boost on the final leg of his four-day triathlon-style challenge yesterday. Billy was raising money for Red Nose Day by walking, cycling and kayaking 140 miles between Gateshead and Brands Hatch motor racing circuit. Cheryl was one of the celebrities who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for Red Nose Day in 2009.
GORDON McQueen’s daughter has told of her heartbreak at seeing him deteriorate with vascular dementia.
The Scotland football legend’s family confirmed earlier this week that the 68-year-old had been diagnosed with the condition last month. Speaking on her podcast The Offside Rule, his daughter Hayley McQueen, 41, said: “Whilst his body has failed him in many ways – with his dodgy ankles and his hip replacement – we thought at least he’s still going to be the fun character that we all knew and loved. But that’s started to disappear a little bit as well.” The Sky Sports presenter said her father had been unwell for a couple of years but was only officially diagnosed in January after seeking private healthcare.
Hayley said: “My dad has for a couple of years now not been in the best of health and has been going a little bit downhill of late.
“It’s not helped by being cooped up at home because of Covid. He is just getting a bit frustrated.
“We had a bit of an inkling that it might be dementia and it’s taken two years for it to come to a head.
“We had a few things happen at home and we thought, ‘We can’t go on like this any more’.
“We went through the NHS for help but didn’t get too far with that. They have been great with certain things but obviously this last year has been very hard for the NHS.
“We decided to go private and straight away found out that he does have vascular dementia.”
Hayley said the family had been comforted by the messages of support her dad had received since the announcement.
She also told how she believes heading the ball caused her dad’s vascular dementia.
Former defender Gordon played for Manchester United, Leeds United and St Mirren and was capped 30 times for Scotland during a glittering career.
Hayley said: “I have been in touch with quite a few people who have been working on the link between football and dementia, and in particular heading of the ball.
“Whilst you will never fully know the extent of damage to the brain until you do an autopsy, which is a horrible thing to think about, a lot that we do know does look like it is from my dad’s heading of the ball.
“He used to train and head the ball over and over and over again.
“Growing up in Scotland and living in and around Glasgow you had these big brick walls and you just used to head the ball against a brick wall. That was kind of your way of practice.”
McQueen scored a majestic header in the 2-1 win against England at Wembley in 1977.
A number of former footballers have been diagnosed with dementia in recent years, leading to research into links between the sport and the illness.
Gordon’s former Leeds teammate Jack Charlton died with dementia last year and it was confirmed in recent months that his brother, United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, has been diagnosed with the disease.
Hollywood star Fonda is as well-known for activism as acting in recent years but the double Oscar winner is still picking up the biggest gongs going
TOMORROW Jane Fonda will be lauded at the Golden Globes with a lifetime achievement award for a career which includes iconic movies like Barbarella, On Golden Pond and 9 to 5.
But while she’s Hollywood royalty, it’s been her activism which has often kept her in the headlines and inspired her to a whole new generation, including Greta Thunberg.
While other 83-year-olds worry about seeing their grandchildren Jane, who has been arrested six times – five of those in 2019 – is still game.
On being detained on her 82 birthday at one of her then weekly climate rallies, she said: “When you put your whole being and your values on the line like that, which is something we don’t do often, it’s extremely empowering, even though you’re giving up your power to the police. It changes you as a person.”
The actress has been a celebrity political activist for decades before it became fashionable.
She was arrested the first time in 1970 while on a speaking tour about the Vietnam War. Her iconic mugshot has her raising a fist in solidarity. It was claimed drugs were found in her bag. She claimed they were vitamins and the charges were later dropped.
Her stance again the Vietnam war and being photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun gave her the nickname “Hanoi Jane”. It was later revealed she had been put under government surveillance from 1967 to 1973.
She has campaigned on feminist causes, Native American rights, opposing the Iraq War and, most recently, to save the environment. After moving to Washington DC, she and Greenpeace began the weekly Fire Drill Fridays protesting outside the Capitol, leading to her multiple arrests two years ago, and she has continued them online during the pandemic. She said: “It’s pure people power and it’s really kept me busy during this terrible pandemic.”
As well as continuing to raise a