Jodi's killer still on loose says mother

Published on Tuesday 4 August 2009 11:03

THE mother of Luke Mitchell today claimed Jodi Jones' killer was still on the loose as it emerged that her son's defence team is preparing an appeal.

Mitchell's lawyers are preparing an appeal against his murder conviction based on new DNA evidence.

The 21-year-old was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Jodi in January 2005, and sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum term of 20 years.

Today, his mother Corinne said a jury could not have convicted her son if the new evidence had been presented at his trial.

Jodi had been stripped, tied up and stabbed repeatedly in a brutal attack on a pathway in Dalkeith. The original prosecution case relied on circumstantial evidence, but was strong enough to convince a jury that Mitchell was guilty.

Following the rejection of an appeal last year, Mitchell's new defence team is preparing to apply for a fresh appeal, based partly on the original forensics investigation – the details of which have never been made public before.

According to Mitchell's lawyers, the original police forensic service laboratory report and biology report contradict the prosecution case that the murder did not have a sexual motive, because semen was found on Jodi's body.

The team also claim the reports show that a blood sample found on 14-year-old Jodi produced a full DNA match with a named individual and a second full DNA profile, for an unknown male, was retrieved from a condom found near the body.

It was claimed that the latter individual was identified three years later when he committed a crime and provided a match on the DNA database.

Mitchell's current solicitor, John Carroll, said: "It (the DNA evidence] could put two people, two associated people, at the locus in circumstances that require an explanation.

"If the jury had heard of this, a number of things could have arisen."

Ms Mitchell, 50, criticised the previous defence team for failing to present the evidence to the jury at the trial.

She said: "I'm very, very angry that this never all came out at Luke's trial because if it had, he never would have been in prison. A jury could not have convicted my son had they been given that evidence.

"What the public seem to forget is that whoever did kill Jodi is still out there, because it was not my son."

According to Sandra Lean, an author studying wrongful convictions who has been campaigning on Mitchell's behalf, Mitchell's original defence team had a copy of the reports but never raised them in court because of issues over who would pay for an expert opinion on the documents.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board said they were approached for funding by the defence team but the matter was "not concluded".

Mitchell turned 21 last month and was moved to Shotts prison after spending the early years of his life sentence at Polmont Young Offenders Institution.

Mitchell's defence team has also lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights about his pre-arrest interview which, in accordance with Scottish law, was conducted without a solicitor present.