Midlothian murderer Luke Mitchell has had the review into his court case rejected and is reportedly facing an open-ended sentence because he still refuses to admit he is guilty of killing his girlfriend Jodi Jones.
The 31-year-old has always maintained his innocence after he was convicted in 2005 for the murder of his girlfriend Jodi Jones, after her body was found in woodland near Dalkeith in Midlothian in 2003.
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Last month, the convicted killer’s supporters delivered a petition addressed to Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain at the Scottish Parliament asking for a review of the case with new evidence.
The petition stated: “The 2005 conviction of Luke Mitchell for the murder of Jodi Jones in 2003 requires an urgent and fully independent inquiry.
"There are far too many unanswered questions to consider this conviction safe.
“In the spirit of true justice and transparency, we, the undersigned, demand that all evidence and information be released to an independent panel (not the SCCRC) for scrutiny, comment and recommendations.
“The people are willing to raise funds to contribute to the cost of such an inquiry.”
However, on Thursday night a Crown spokesperson said: “The murder of Jodi Jones in 2003 was a terrible crime and our thoughts remain with her family and friends.
“Luke Mitchell was convicted of the murder of Jodi and sentenced in 2005 following extensive work by investigators and prosecutors to test evidence.
“COPFS considers that there is currently no basis for a review of this conviction.”
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A documentary by Channel 5 had seen many question raised about the conviction after the programme investigated claims that it had been a miscarriage of justice.
Murdered when she was 14-years-old, Mitchell was found guilty of Jodi’s murder following a ten-month-long police investigation.
With the documentary prompting fresh support of his innocence, Jones' family had hit out at the claims, who spoke out about the hateful abuse they had received.
Speaking at the time, a family member had said: "We were shocked at people on social media openly criticising the family of a murder victim, suggesting they were involved.
"A disgusting allegation and despicable position to put them in when their suffering continues.
“Channel 5 and the ‘investigators’ have made the family’s suffering so amplified from all of the abuse from these armchair sleuths based on a biased and one sided programme. Why can people be so blinkered and forget the family?”
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