Mitchell runs up £112k bill

LEGAL appeals launched by murderer Luke Mitchell have cost the taxpayer more than £112,000 since his conviction, official figures show.

One of his court appeals cost almost 80,000, 40 times the average for such cases in Scotland, according to a freedom of information request.

Mitchell, who murdered his girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian, in 2003, has already received public funds for four unsuccessful appeals and a fifth is reportedly under way.

Taxpayers and justice campaigners have united to demand an end to the "ridiculous" levels of legal aid spending on Mitchell.