Police Scotland are satisfied that Luke Mitchell was responsible for the 2003 murder of Jodi Jones despite a Channel 5 documentary which claims to cast doubt on his conviction and suggests that he might be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Jodi, 14, vanished in June 2003 and her boyfriend Mitchell who was also 14 at the time found her body near the Roan’s Dyke path that ran between their homes in Dalkeith.
Following an extensive investigation by Lothian and Borders detectives, Mitchell was arrested and charged with the murder.
After a lengthy trial, a jury took five hours to convict the teenager of the horrific crime despite his claim to be innocent and he was sentenced to a minimum of 20-years in prison.
Mitchell has had four previous attempts to overturn his conviction. Two were rejected on appeal and a bid to have his case referred to the UK Supreme Court was turned down at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Another appeal was refused by miscarriage of justice investigators at the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
The two-part documentary, which airs on Wednesday and Thursday follows former Strathclyde police officers John Sallens and Michael Neill as they re-examine the evidence. Neither worked on the original case
Detective Chief Superintendent Laura Thomson said: “Following the discovery of 14-year-old Jodi Jones’ body within a wooded area in Easthouses, Midlothian, on 30th June 2003, a thorough investigation was conducted by Lothian and Borders Police.
“Extensive forensic analysis was carried out along with door-to-door inquiries and other investigative techniques and a full report of the circumstances was submitted to the COPFS.
“As a result, Luke Mitchell, who was 15 at the time, was charged with Jodi’s murder, before being convicted and sentenced in 2005.
We are satisfied that we do not need to trace any other individuals in connection with this investigation.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
