Jodi Jones murder: Luke Mitchell appeal fails

Jodi had gone missing after going to meet her boyfriend in June 2003.

Lawyers for Mitchell argued he did not get a fair trial and was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

But today, three senior judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that his appeal against conviction should be refused.

Scotland's top judge, the Lord Justice General Lord Hamilton, ruled that the appeal against conviction must be refused.

Sitting alongside Lords Osborne and Kingarth, he said: "The court is satisfied that there was sufficient evidence in law upon which a verdict of guilty could be returned."

He pointed to the evidence of Andrina Bryson, a witness in the prosecution case, who testified to seeing a male and a female at a crucial time on the day of Jodi's death.

Lord Hamilton said: "Taken at its highest Mrs Bryson's evidence amounted to an identification of the appellant (Mitchell) as that male and of Jodi Jones as possibly that female.

"Taken along with other evidence, it would have been open to the jury to conclude that it was indeed her.

"If that evidence was accepted, it not only destroyed the appellant's alibi that he was in his home during that period, but also put him in the company of Jodi Jones at a point of time which on other evidence may well have been shortly before she met her death."

Today's ruling marks the latest stage in a chain of events that began almost five years ago.

Jodi, 14, was stripped, tied up and stabbed to death in woods near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on June 30, 2003.

Her body lay behind a wall running alongside a walkway known as the Roan's Dyke path.

A hole had been cut in her windpipe and the main artery in her neck was severed virtually all the way through.

The schoolgirl had multiple injuries to her head and wounds to her face, breast and arms.

The final moments in her brief life became the focus of one of the biggest investigations ever conducted by Lothian and Borders Police.

More than 200 police staff were involved in the inquiry, taking 3,150 statements from over 2,000 people.

During the subsequent trial at the High Court in Edinburgh - one of the most high profile cases to come before a Scottish court in recent years - prosecutor Alan Turnbull QC described the tragedy as "the most gruesome killing of recent years".

There were three main planks of evidence at the heart of the prosecution case, which was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.

The Crown suggested the evidence of the accused's brother, Jodi's family members and a passer-by were sufficient grounds on which to convict Mitchell, who lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

Mitchell, of Dalkeith, was convicted of the killing after the longest single-accused murder trial in Scots legal history.

He was detained for life with a minimum of 20 years behind bars in February 2005.

The teenager, who was also 14 at the time the schoolgirl died, has constantly protested his innocence.

The murder weapon has never been recovered and there was no credible DNA evidence linking Mitchell to the killing.

When the case reached the Appeal Court in Edinburgh earlier this year, Mitchell's lawyers argued an "enduring sense of unease" surrounded the evidence used to convict.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay QC, who represented Mitchell at his trial, claimed he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Findlay argued there was not enough evidence to find his client guilty beyond reasonable doubt and that police made errors as they investigated the case.

The lawyer also claimed Mitchell did not get a fair trial because his case was heard too close to the crime scene.

The defence argued the "unreasonable" decision not to move the high-profile trial away from Edinburgh was enough to result in a miscarriage of justice.

It was asserted that "emotional" media coverage after Jodi's death, including coverage "hostile" to Mitchell, would have had the greatest impact in the minds of people living in and around the Scottish capital.

But the Crown told the appeal there was enough evidence and a "rational basis" to see Mitchell convicted.

John Beckett QC claimed the Crown case was "compelling, cogent and almost irresistible".

Mitchell's mother Corinne was defiant as she left the court.

She said: "Luke's innocent - the fight goes on."

Solicitor General Frank Mulholland QC said he was pleased the conviction had been upheld.

He added: "As the trial judge said when Luke Mitchell was originally convicted: This was a truly evil murder and one of the most appalling crimes that any of us can remember'.

"The decision of the Appeal Court will be a comfort to Jodi's family that justice has been done. Our thoughts remain with Jodi's family at this time."

A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: "Lothian and Borders Police note the appeal decision.

"This was a grave crime and our thoughts are with the family at this time."