Luke Mitchell
Encyclopedia
The murder of Jodi Jones is a child murder
case involving schoolgirl Jodi Jones which took place in Easthouses
, Scotland on 30 June 2003. Her then-boyfriend, Luke Mitchell was convicted of Jones' murder in January 2005.
, Scotland. Her naked body was found six hours later hidden behind a high wall in a wooded area bordering Roan's Dyke footpath, a well-known local short cut running between Easthouses and Newbattle
. She had been subjected to what prosecutors would later describe in court as a "savage knife attack." Early in the investigation the police suggested that the killer would be a man local to the area because of the location of where the murder took place. It was claimed that Jones had set out earlier to visit Mitchell. Her mutilated body was later found by Mitchell, who had joined a search party that also included Jones' 67 year-old grandmother, Alice Walker, 17 year-old sister Janine, and Janine's boyfriend, Stephen Kelly (19). The fact that Mitchell and his dog discovered the body very quickly despite a search at night, in poor weather, later played a major part in the criminal investigation.
Mitchell was initially questioned as a witness but was eventually arrested and charged with the crime some 10 months later following months of media speculation, including the repeated claim that the then 15-year-old was the "only" or "prime" suspect. At his trial at the High Court of Justiciary
in Edinburgh
he pleaded not guilty and lodged a special defence of alibi, claiming that he was at home cooking dinner at the time of the murder. During the 42-day trial which followed the jury heard evidence from both Mitchell's mother and his brother Shane, as well as visiting the crime scene. The evidence of Shane Mitchell was crucial to the conviction; he stated that at the time of the murder, he had been at the family home, viewing internet pornography. He agreed that this was not an activity he would have engaged in if he thought anyone else was in the house and confirmed that he had not seen his brother that afternoon. In doing so he failed to corroborate Mitchell's alibi. The trial is the longest of a single accused, and the costliest at £452,687, in Scottish legal history.
On 21 January 2005, the jury found him guilty after five hours of deliberation. Mitchell, aged sixteen at the time of his conviction, was condemned as being "truly wicked" by Judge Lord Nimmo Smith. He was also found guilty of a separate charge of supplying cannabis
.
Mitchell's sentencing took place on 11 February 2005. Nimmo Smith told Mitchell that he would spend a minimum of 20 years in prison before being considered for parole.
, across the road from the High Court of Justiciary building in Edinburgh's Old Town, where the trial was being heard. A visit by the entire jury to the actual murder scene was also arranged.
. The prosecution claimed that he had taken a keen interest in The Black Dahlia
case of 1947, an unsolved homicide whereby an aspiring young actress was found murdered and mutilated in Los Angeles. Manson painted a picture of Elizabeth Short's injuries. The Crown suggested that there was a similarity between Jodi and Elizabeth's injuries.
A knife pouch was also found in Mitchell's possession on which he had marked "JJ 1989 - 2003" and "The finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came". This was also considered evidence on the basis that it would be unlikely for anyone but the killer to remember someone killed with a knife in this way.
Mitchell described himself as a Goth
and scribbled Satanic
symbols and statements on his schoolbooks. Some of these, it emerged later, were lines from the popular computer game Max Payne
. As well as dealing in cannabis he was reportedly a heavy user of the drug.
In November 2006, Mitchell won the right to appeal against his conviction for murder. Mitchell's legal team had wanted a number of grounds for appeal to be heard but the judges said only one would be allowed. Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton
said they would allow a ground of appeal claiming that the trial judge erred in refusing to move Mitchell's case out of Edinburgh following publicity ahead of the proceedings. Lord Hamilton, who was sitting with Lord Kingarth
and Lord MacLean
, said: "We have come, with some hesitation, to the view that this ground is arguable." "There is an argument that the trial judge failed adequately to take into account the circumstances that the publicity might have had an impact of particular strength not only in the immediate locality of the crime but in a somewhat wider area embracing the city of Edinburgh and other towns in the Lothians," he said. There was a huge media fanfare surrounding the trial and this may have affected the final outcome. The fact that the jury were not put into a hotel for the night of the decision has also been cited as a factor. The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh heard Mitchell's appeal in February 2008, and in May 2008 his original conviction was upheld.
, Lord Kingarth and Lord Hamilton, who delivered the decision. They ruled that there was sufficient evidence in law that Mitchell could be convicted on and rejected his other grounds of appeal, yet stated that police questioning of Mitchell on 14 August 2003 had been "outrageous" and was "to be deplored."
, Lord Gill, sitting with Lord Hardie and Lady Cosgrove stated that he had the utmost sympathy for the family of the victim and that he understood entirely why this murder should have caused such public revulsion. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion that the sentencing judge should not have imposed a punishment part of such severity on such a young offender. He stated that justice would be done in this case if the punishment part of the sentence were fixed at 15 years. He did not consider that they were precluded from that disposal by anything said in the guidance given in HM Adv v Boyle and Ors (supra). He regretted, therefore, that he had to differ from his Lordship and her Ladyship.
case was rejected. His lawyer told the Appeal Court in Edinburgh that his trial was unfair because he had no access to a lawyer during an interview. Lord Osborne sitting with Lord Hamilton (Lord Justice General)
and Lord Kingarth told Mitchell that the application for leave to lodge the additional ground was refused. The appellant's appeal against sentence was finally disposed of on 2 February 2011 and in such circumstances there did not exist a live appeal in respect of which leave could be granted under section 110(4).
, on the basis that his previous appeal had been dealt with before the Cadder ruling and could therefore not be re-opened.
Frontline Scotland documentary special was broadcast about the case on BBC One
. It explored a theory - not followed up by police during the initial investigation - that the murder may have been committed not by Mitchell, but by a student and heavy drug user who was alleged to have handed in an essay about killing a girl in the woods a few weeks before the murder. A friend of this suspect saw him soon after the murder and claimed that he was heavily scratched about the face. The documentary also challenged the theory that Mitchell was an obsessive Marilyn Manson fan and had a keen interest in the Black Dahlia murder. Only one Marilyn Manson CD and a ripped up calendar were found in Mitchell's room. The CD was also found to have been purchased after the murder took place. It was also said that after searching Mitchell's computer, no links were found to the Black Dahlia or the paintings done by Manson of the murder. The documentary stated that there is no evidence that Mitchell knew of the Dahlia case until after the murder. In the documentary Professor Anthony Busuttil, when asked about the similarities between Jodi and Elizabeth's injuries said, "there were major dissimilarities." The Jones family were reported in the Scottish Daily Record
to be "outraged" at the programme, though the newspaper stated that none of them had watched it.
Child murder
The murder of children is considered an abhorrent crime in much of the world; they are perceived within their communities and the state at large as being vulnerable, and therefore especially susceptible to abduction and murder. The protection of children from abuse and possible death often involves...
case involving schoolgirl Jodi Jones which took place in Easthouses
Easthouses
Easthouses is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying just outside Dalkeith. It forms the northern extension of the settlement of Mayfield, with which it is closely associated....
, Scotland on 30 June 2003. Her then-boyfriend, Luke Mitchell was convicted of Jones' murder in January 2005.
Investigation and trial
On 30 June 2003, 14-year-old Jones was murdered near her home at EasthousesEasthouses
Easthouses is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying just outside Dalkeith. It forms the northern extension of the settlement of Mayfield, with which it is closely associated....
, Scotland. Her naked body was found six hours later hidden behind a high wall in a wooded area bordering Roan's Dyke footpath, a well-known local short cut running between Easthouses and Newbattle
Newbattle
Newbattle is a village in Midlothian, in the ancient Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Andrews, about seven miles from Edinburgh. There was an abbey there founded about 1140, being the second of the six Cistercian Monasteries established by King David I of Scotland.-Newbattle Abbey:Newbattle Abbey was...
. She had been subjected to what prosecutors would later describe in court as a "savage knife attack." Early in the investigation the police suggested that the killer would be a man local to the area because of the location of where the murder took place. It was claimed that Jones had set out earlier to visit Mitchell. Her mutilated body was later found by Mitchell, who had joined a search party that also included Jones' 67 year-old grandmother, Alice Walker, 17 year-old sister Janine, and Janine's boyfriend, Stephen Kelly (19). The fact that Mitchell and his dog discovered the body very quickly despite a search at night, in poor weather, later played a major part in the criminal investigation.
Mitchell was initially questioned as a witness but was eventually arrested and charged with the crime some 10 months later following months of media speculation, including the repeated claim that the then 15-year-old was the "only" or "prime" suspect. At his trial at the High Court of Justiciary
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court of Scotland.The High Court is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal. As a court of first instance, the High Court sits mainly in Parliament House, or in the former Sheriff Court building, in Edinburgh, but also sits from time...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
he pleaded not guilty and lodged a special defence of alibi, claiming that he was at home cooking dinner at the time of the murder. During the 42-day trial which followed the jury heard evidence from both Mitchell's mother and his brother Shane, as well as visiting the crime scene. The evidence of Shane Mitchell was crucial to the conviction; he stated that at the time of the murder, he had been at the family home, viewing internet pornography. He agreed that this was not an activity he would have engaged in if he thought anyone else was in the house and confirmed that he had not seen his brother that afternoon. In doing so he failed to corroborate Mitchell's alibi. The trial is the longest of a single accused, and the costliest at £452,687, in Scottish legal history.
On 21 January 2005, the jury found him guilty after five hours of deliberation. Mitchell, aged sixteen at the time of his conviction, was condemned as being "truly wicked" by Judge Lord Nimmo Smith. He was also found guilty of a separate charge of supplying cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
.
Mitchell's sentencing took place on 11 February 2005. Nimmo Smith told Mitchell that he would spend a minimum of 20 years in prison before being considered for parole.
Finding the body
The main plank of the prosecution case was "guilty knowledge"; in finding the body quickly despite poor conditions, Mitchell demonstrated that he already knew where it was. In his defence, Mitchell claimed that he went through a distinctive "V"-shaped hole in one part of the wall to find the body, because a family dog had alerted him to something suspicious. The prosecution stated that only the killer could have known the exact location of Jodi's body. To allow the jury to explore the plausibility of these claims, a mock-up wall was erected in the Laigh Hall, below Parliament Hall within Parliament HouseParliament House, Edinburgh
Parliament House in Edinburgh, Scotland, was home to the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland, and now houses the Supreme Courts of Scotland. It is located in the Old Town, just off the Royal Mile, opposite St Giles Cathedral.-Parliament Hall:...
, across the road from the High Court of Justiciary building in Edinburgh's Old Town, where the trial was being heard. A visit by the entire jury to the actual murder scene was also arranged.
Broken alibi
A second part of the prosecution case was to discredit Mitchell's alibi that he had been at home at the time of the murder. Under cross-examination, his brother Shane revealed that he had been viewing internet porn in the house at that time. He agreed that he would only have done this if he thought the house to be otherwise empty. He confirmed in evidence that he had not seen his brother in the family home at the time of the murder.Suggestion of burned evidence
It was stated during the trial that Mitchell's clothes may have been destroyed in a garden incinerator and neighbours noted a strange smell coming from the garden. No forensic evidence was recovered from the incinerator, which was an 11" diameter log burner, and one neighbour, in evidence, described the smell as "wood smoke."Other evidence and unusual behaviour
Mitchell was known to be a fan of Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
. The prosecution claimed that he had taken a keen interest in The Black Dahlia
Black Dahlia
"The Black Dahlia" was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short is an American woman and the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. She acquired the moniker posthumously by newspapers in the habit of nicknaming crimes they found particularly colorful...
case of 1947, an unsolved homicide whereby an aspiring young actress was found murdered and mutilated in Los Angeles. Manson painted a picture of Elizabeth Short's injuries. The Crown suggested that there was a similarity between Jodi and Elizabeth's injuries.
A knife pouch was also found in Mitchell's possession on which he had marked "JJ 1989 - 2003" and "The finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came". This was also considered evidence on the basis that it would be unlikely for anyone but the killer to remember someone killed with a knife in this way.
Mitchell described himself as a Goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and scribbled Satanic
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
symbols and statements on his schoolbooks. Some of these, it emerged later, were lines from the popular computer game Max Payne
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
. As well as dealing in cannabis he was reportedly a heavy user of the drug.
Appeal
In March 2006, Mitchell was granted leave to appeal against his conviction (and his length of sentence) at the High Court of Justiciary sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, on the grounds of the trial judge's refusal to hear the original case outside of the city.In November 2006, Mitchell won the right to appeal against his conviction for murder. Mitchell's legal team had wanted a number of grounds for appeal to be heard but the judges said only one would be allowed. Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton
Arthur Hamilton, Lord Hamilton
Arthur Campbell Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, PC , is Scotland's most senior judge. He was chosen as Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session in November 2005, succeeding Lord Cullen.-Early life:...
said they would allow a ground of appeal claiming that the trial judge erred in refusing to move Mitchell's case out of Edinburgh following publicity ahead of the proceedings. Lord Hamilton, who was sitting with Lord Kingarth
Derek Emslie, Lord Kingarth
Derek Robert Alexander Emslie, Lord Kingarth QC is a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session...
and Lord MacLean
Ranald MacLean, Lord MacLean
Ranald Norman Munro MacLean, Lord MacLean is a retired Scottish judge.Born on 18 December 1938, MacLean was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, where he was Head of School. He graduated BA from Clare College, Cambridge, LLB from the University of Edinburgh and LLM from Yale University...
, said: "We have come, with some hesitation, to the view that this ground is arguable." "There is an argument that the trial judge failed adequately to take into account the circumstances that the publicity might have had an impact of particular strength not only in the immediate locality of the crime but in a somewhat wider area embracing the city of Edinburgh and other towns in the Lothians," he said. There was a huge media fanfare surrounding the trial and this may have affected the final outcome. The fact that the jury were not put into a hotel for the night of the decision has also been cited as a factor. The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh heard Mitchell's appeal in February 2008, and in May 2008 his original conviction was upheld.
Appeal decision
On 16 May 2008, the judges' verdict was given. Sitting over the appeal were Lord OsborneKenneth Osborne, Lord Osborne
Kenneth Hilton Osborne, Lord Osborne PC is a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session...
, Lord Kingarth and Lord Hamilton, who delivered the decision. They ruled that there was sufficient evidence in law that Mitchell could be convicted on and rejected his other grounds of appeal, yet stated that police questioning of Mitchell on 14 August 2003 had been "outrageous" and was "to be deplored."
Appeal against sentence refused
On 2 February 2011, Mitchell's appeal against sentence was refused by a two to one majority. Lord Justice ClerkLord Justice Clerk
The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session.The holder has the title in both the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary and is in charge of the Second Division of Judges in the Court of Session...
, Lord Gill, sitting with Lord Hardie and Lady Cosgrove stated that he had the utmost sympathy for the family of the victim and that he understood entirely why this murder should have caused such public revulsion. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion that the sentencing judge should not have imposed a punishment part of such severity on such a young offender. He stated that justice would be done in this case if the punishment part of the sentence were fixed at 15 years. He did not consider that they were precluded from that disposal by anything said in the guidance given in HM Adv v Boyle and Ors (supra). He regretted, therefore, that he had to differ from his Lordship and her Ladyship.
Cadder appeal refused
On 15 April 2011, Mitchell's bid to challenge his conviction for murder following a human rights ruling by the Supreme Court in the CadderCadder v HM Advocate
Cadder v HM Advocate [2010] UKSC 43 was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which held that the way in which police in Scotland detained suspects was not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and was therefore unlawful in terms of the Scotland Act...
case was rejected. His lawyer told the Appeal Court in Edinburgh that his trial was unfair because he had no access to a lawyer during an interview. Lord Osborne sitting with Lord Hamilton (Lord Justice General)
Lord President of the Court of Session
The Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...
and Lord Kingarth told Mitchell that the application for leave to lodge the additional ground was refused. The appellant's appeal against sentence was finally disposed of on 2 February 2011 and in such circumstances there did not exist a live appeal in respect of which leave could be granted under section 110(4).
Appeal to Supreme Court refused
In November 2011 Mitchell was refused leave to take his appeal to the Supreme Court of the United KingdomSupreme Court of the United Kingdom
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...
, on the basis that his previous appeal had been dealt with before the Cadder ruling and could therefore not be re-opened.
Frontline Scotland
In May 2007, a BBC ScotlandBBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
Frontline Scotland documentary special was broadcast about the case on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. It explored a theory - not followed up by police during the initial investigation - that the murder may have been committed not by Mitchell, but by a student and heavy drug user who was alleged to have handed in an essay about killing a girl in the woods a few weeks before the murder. A friend of this suspect saw him soon after the murder and claimed that he was heavily scratched about the face. The documentary also challenged the theory that Mitchell was an obsessive Marilyn Manson fan and had a keen interest in the Black Dahlia murder. Only one Marilyn Manson CD and a ripped up calendar were found in Mitchell's room. The CD was also found to have been purchased after the murder took place. It was also said that after searching Mitchell's computer, no links were found to the Black Dahlia or the paintings done by Manson of the murder. The documentary stated that there is no evidence that Mitchell knew of the Dahlia case until after the murder. In the documentary Professor Anthony Busuttil, when asked about the similarities between Jodi and Elizabeth's injuries said, "there were major dissimilarities." The Jones family were reported in the Scottish Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
to be "outraged" at the programme, though the newspaper stated that none of them had watched it.