Killer Luke Mitchell in latest bid to overturn Jodi Jones murder conviction

Luke Mitchell: Convicted in 2005 of murdering his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones.Katielee Arrowsmith/Deadline News

Killer Luke Mitchell is continuing in his fight to overturn his conviction for murdering his teenage girlfriend Jodi Jones.

In a document lodged with the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in Glasgow, Mitchell is claiming another man with a "remarkable resemblance" to himself was seen near the scene.

The 23-year-old has repeatedly failed to overturn the conviction, with the UK Supreme Court last year ruling that there were no grounds to hear his appeal and describing the case as "closed".

Mitchell was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 20 years for the 2003 murder of 14-year-old Jodi in Dalkeith, Midlothian.

On Friday, his mother Corrine Mitchell was joined by campaigners in submitting the appeal.

The document raises concerns about the way the crime scene was managed and the manner in which police questioned Mitchell, who was 14 at the time. It claims that another man with a "remarkable resemblance" to Luke was seen at the scene near Jodi's home which could have led to confusion over the identity of the killer.

It also says the prosecution's case was built on "circumstantial evidence".

Mitchell has always protested his innocence but his original appeal against the conviction was rejected by senior judges in Scotland in 2008.

It is believed Mitchell had hoped a fresh appeal would be heard by the Supreme Court in light of a high-profile human rights decision it gave in 2010. The Cadder ruling put an end to police being able to question suspects without the option of legal representation.

However, it is understood that Mitchell's Supreme Court bid was refused because his initial appeal against conviction had been dealt with before the Cadder ruling was issued and it could not therefore be reopened.

Jodi was murdered on June 30, 2003. She had been stripped, tied up and stabbed to death and her mutilated body dumped in woods near her home.

Mitchell was jailed for life in 2005. He was convicted of the killing following what was at the time the longest single-accused murder trial in Scottish legal history.

Since his conviction appeal failed, his subsequent attempts to have additional grounds of appeal heard by judges in Scotland have been refused and his attempt to have his minimum jail term cut also failed.

At the various stages of the case, Mitchell's legal team have raised questions about the way police interviewed the then 15-year-old boy and about the Crown's use of identification evidence during his high-profile trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Related articles

People who read this story also read