Emergency law to follow suspect ruling

Emergency legislation was being rushed through the Scottish Parliament today after a UK Supreme Court ruling on the rights of suspects to legal representation.

The ruling, which found that the Scottish system allowing people to be held for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights, means almost 3,500 cases could now be appealed. Among the cases likely to be re-examined is that of Luke Mitchell, convicted of murdering his girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith in 2003. He was just 14 when he was quizzed by detectives without a lawyer.

His mother Corinne said supporters were already "looking into" the effect of the ruling. She said: "It's about time Scotland was dragged on to the same level as everyone else."

But Jodi's mother, Judy Jones, said: "A change in the law will affect a lot of cases. It's always a worry."