Jodi accused will not give evidence in defence

THE youth accused of murdering Jodi Jones will not be giving any evidence in his own defence, it was announced yesterday.

The news emerged as the prosecution case against 16-year-old Luke Mitchell came to a close after almost two months.

Mitchell’s lawyer, Donald Findlay, QC, said there would be evidence led by the defence. When he indicated the name of the first witness he proposed to call, the judge, Lord Nimmo Smith, asked: "You are not calling the accused?"

The lawyer answered: "I am not calling the accused."

Lord Nimmo Smith reminded the jurors that at the start of the case, several weeks ago, he had instructed them that an accused in a criminal trial in Scotland was under no obligation to give evidence.

Mitchell, 16, denies murdering Jodi, 14, on 30 June, 2003, by striking her repeatedly with a knife in woods at Roan’s Dyke path, a short-cut between their homes in the Newbattle and Easthouses areas of Dalkeith, Midlothian.

She is said to have been killed between 5pm and 5:45pm, and Mitchell has submitted a special defence of alibi for the period between those times. He says he was in his home in Newbattle Abbey Crescent, or in the area of the house.

Dr Kranti Hiremath, 49, said it was part of her duties as a forensic medical examiner to attend police stations and examine the victims of crime and suspects.

She said she had been called to Dalkeith police station in the early hours of 1 July, 2003, and had examined Mitchell.

He co-operated fully. She checked for any injuries, and saw an abrasion on each of Mitchell’s shins. The more recent was between 24 and 48 hours old. Mr Findlay asked: "There were no injuries that had the appearance of being received in the previous 12 hours?"

Dr Hiremath said: "No."

She added that she had taken fingernail scrapings from Mitchell, which would be submitted for analysis to test for blood or other material.

The jury heard a woman describe seeing a "suspicious" youth near the path where Jodi was killed. She was positive it was not Mitchell.

Marion O’Sullivan, 36, of Newtongrange, Midlothian, said her partner picked her up in their car in Dalkeith High Street on the evening of 30 June and travelled along Newbattle Road, where one end of Roan’s Dyke path emerges.

They were trying to get in by 6pm so her daughter could see The Simpsons on television.

Ms O’Sullivan said that on the journey she had seen a youth at a driveway off Newbattle Road.

"He was just standing there ... he just looked suspicious. He was not actually doing anything," she told the jury.

Later, she saw media coverage of Jodi’s murder and photographs of Mitchell in newspapers. Until then, she had not known who Mitchell was or anything about his appearance.

Mr Findlay asked the witness to look at the youth (Mitchell) sitting between security guards in court, and said: "Is that the young man you saw?"

Ms O’Sullivan stated: "No it is not. I am positive."

The trial continues.