Luke Mitchell’s fresh bid for freedom over ‘untested’ evidence
CONVICTED murderer Luke Mitchell is planning a fresh bid to clear his name using new evidence his legal team believe will exonerate him.
Lawyers for the 34-year-old claim that 122 items gathered as evidence after the mutilated body of schoolgirl Jodi Jones was found were never subjected to forensic testing.
Insisting that Mitchell is the victim of a ‘mind-boggling’ miscarriage of justice, they claim, for example, that a hooded top discovered yards from the murder scene was bagged by police but never swabbed for DNA.
Mitchell has spent the past 17 years in jail after being found guilty of the brutal murder of Jodi, his girlfriend, who was found in woods near Dalkeith, Midlothian, in 2003.
His legal team have re-examined all the evidence logs, police and scientific reports and highlighted what they believe are significant errors. Crucially, they have established that a number of swabs were taken from the crime scene but never tested. Other items – such as the bag used to remove her body – were also not tested.
They believe testing these items now could prove Mitchell is innocent. In the coming months, a plea will be made to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC) to allow the case to return to the High Court and grant access to the evidence.
Last night lawyer Scott Forbes, part of the volunteer legal team working on Mitchell’s behalf, said: ‘Forensic science has improved dramatically. I believe DNA samples that went untested will overhaul the conviction if we can examine them now. Without a doubt, that will prove Luke Mitchell did not kill Jodi.’
Mitchell was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in 2005 after he was found guilty of murdering 14-year-old Jodi, who had been killed with a knife. Judge Lord Nimmo Smith told him: ‘It was a truly evil murder.’
Aged 16 when he was convicted,
Mitchell has vowed to clear his name. In 2014 the SCCRC ruled that, while police failed to follow procedures and his human rights were breached, it did not amount to a miscarriage of justice.
Despite a horrendous crime scene, there was no forensic evidence directly linking Mitchell to the murder.
Criminologist Dr Sandra Lean, who has been working on his case, said: ‘It is mind-boggling these items were not tested.’
In 2012 The Scottish Mail on Sunday printed results of a lie detector test taken by Mitchell. The independent expert who conducted the test said it showed Mitchell was telling the truth when he denied stabbing Jodi.
Police Scotland said extensive forensic analysis and other investigative techniques were used which saw Mitchell convicted.
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: ‘This matter relates to a potential appeal and it would not be appropriate to comment.’
‘This will prove he did not kill Jodi Jones’