Luke Mitchell and Nat Fraser side by side in court to protest innocence

Published on Thursday 12 November 2009 21:21

TWO of Scotland's most notorious killers sat together in court yesterday as they sought another chance to clear their name.

Nat Fraser, 50, and Luke Mitchell, 21, have already lost appeals, but are trying to persuade a bench of five judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh that aspects of their cases should be reconsidered.

Mitchell was jailed for life in 2005 for the "evil" murder of his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones, in Dalkeith, Midlothian.

Elgin businessman Fraser was given a life sentence in 2003 after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife, Arlene, in 1998.

Jodi's mother, Judith, and other family members looked on from the public gallery, as did Mitchell's mother, Corinne.

Arlene Fraser's father, Hector McInnes, 69, was also present. The appeal applications are at an early stage and the first decision is whether it would be competent for them to proceed.

The issue raised is the same in each case, so they are being considered together, meaning Fraser and Mitchell were both taken into the dock of the Court of Criminal Appeal.

They were separated by a security officer, and were joined by another three convicted men who also want a second attempt at an appeal.

Mr McInnes said Fraser's application had come as a surprise.

He said: "We knew he was trying to get a hearing at the Supreme Court in London, but we didn't realise he had two irons in the fire. But if you are in prison, you have time to work out all these devious things. It does not bother us, so long as Mr Fraser is kept in prison."

Even after losing appeals, individuals can go to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and win a rehearing. The Lockerbie bomber is the most recent, high-profile example.

It can take time for the commission to decide whether or not to make a referral to the appeal court. However, if Fraser, Mitchell and the others win the argument currently before the court, they could bypass the commission and would have the appeals heard more quickly.

Mrs Fraser disappeared in 1998. She and her husband had separated a few weeks earlier, and it was feared she had been killed so Fraser could avoid a costly divorce settlement.

No body was ever found, and it was five years before Fraser stood trial. He had a cast-iron alibi for the morning his wife vanished, but a friend testified that Fraser had confided in him about hiring a killer to strangle Arlene.

The friend added Fraser had admitted burning the body and crushing and scattering the remains. In 2006, Fraser was released pending an appeal. It was heard in 2007 and, after 19 months of freedom, his bail was withdrawn and he was returned to jail. Subsequently, the appeal court ruled that Fraser had not suffered a miscarriage of justice and his conviction stood.

Mitchell and Jodi Jones were both 14 at the time of her death in June 2003. She had set out from her home in Easthouses, Dalkeith, Midlothian, to meet Mitchell, who lived at the end of Roan's Dyke path in the Newbattle area.

After failing to return home, her naked body was found in woods behind a wall that ran along the path. Her throat had been slit and her body mutilated. Mitchell was found guilty of murder and ordered to serve at least 20 years before he could apply for parole.

The current hearing continues today.