Justice campaigner:
DOCTOR Sandra Lean has dedicated her career to defending those who have been wrongfully convicted.
A mother of two daughters, she had a quiet but content life, running her own business in the town of Dalkeith.
But that all changed when the area was rocked by the brutal murder of 14-year old Jodi Jones in June 2003.
The teenager was discovered in woodland behind Newbattle High School – the same school that her eldest attended. At the heart of the crime was the accusation that 14-year old Luke Mitchell, Jodi’s boyfriend, was the murderer.
The murder would take Lean in an unexpected direction, as she sought to understand the events which were unfolding on her doorstep. After doubts that Mitchell was the killer, she began to investigate, leading to the publication of her first book about miscarriages of justice.
She then gained her PHD in criminal justice, becoming a fully qualified paralegal at the same time as finishing her thesis, all the while campaigning for those wrongfully convicted.
She is currently assisting the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation, to launch a new appeal for the release of Mitchell, who was convicted of the murder of Jones.
She said: “My girls went to Newbattle High School and they walked along the path which runs at right angles to the path where Jodi was found. And the more I saw, the more I thought, ‘are my kids safe walking that path to school? Have they gone after the wrong guy?”
“I want to know, I want to be absolutely sure that they’ve got the right guy, so I know my girls are safe and that the person that did this is not still hanging about in those woods.”
Initially, she was surprised at how quickly suspicion fell on Mitchell and decided to turn away from local gossip. She was convinced of his innocence in 2009, when she first gained access to his case files.
She said: “There were at least half a dozen people who were people of interest. For example, people with previous histories of violently attacking women. These people all had a history. They were in the system, and usually when something like that happens, they trawl the system looking for people who have committed similar crimes. That’s just a standard thing. And yet they didn’t do it in this case. And you’re just left thinking, why?”
Dr Lean is back compiling evidence alongside other experts to launch a third appeal for Mitchell.
She says: “It’s wrong and it needs to be put right because it could be any one of us. And to sit where Jodi’s mum is sitting now, 15 years down the line, not knowing the truth. That cannot be acceptable.”
Along the way, she has faced criticism and even death threats from members of the local community. Some call her disrespectful for her work, but she says. “I don’t think it’s disrespectful to seek the truth under any circumstances.”
EXCLUSIVE: First interview with Luke Mitchell from behind bars in tomorrow’s Herald on Sunday.