A convicted murderer looks set to have his case reviewed as a judge considers whether he had his parole unjustly denied.
Luke Mitchell was jailed in 2005, after being convicted of the murder of his then-girlfriend Jodi Jones. The pair had been dating for four months when Mitchell stabbed her to death in the woods near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
By the end of a 10-month investigation, the spotlight of suspicion was squarely on Mitchell and he was ultimately given a life sentence for the murder of 14-year-old Jones, with no application for parole for 20 years.
Mitchell maintained his innocence during his incarceration, building a case to appeal his conviction on four separate occasions, but in each instance he was denied.
Luke Mitchell was convicted of the murder of Jodi Jones
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He found himself in front of a parole board for the first time in April 2024, but the panel denied his application. He accused the panel of not treating his application fairly and won the right to a judicial review in January.
Lady Haldane sat and listened while she heard cases from both sides over the two hour session, instigated by the 36-year-old’s disapproval of the handling of evidence during the first parole hearing after serving 20 years of a life sentence.
Speaking on behalf of Mitchell, who was not in court, advocate Shaun McPhee led detailing the circumstances of a heavily redacted report being provided to Mitchell 20 minutes before his parole board hearing in April 2024 and called for a “reduction in the decision” for a shorter turnaround time to a new parole hearing.
An additional 20-page report was included in evidence, which was penned by two social workers and “well sourced”, according to Lady Haldane. But McPhee argued the report “could not be properly tested” and Mitchell lacked assurances that it was in no way influenced by the paper excluded from their assessment.
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Luke Mitchell (right) arrives at Edinburgh High Court in 2008
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McPhee said that the panel put the report to one side and made their decision based on other evidence, but while the report was not favourable to granting Mitchell parole, it could also have included information that would have assisted his case.
McPhee told Lady Haldane: “The report could never be properly tested.”
Opposing counsel Mark Lindsay KC said Mitchell was “clutching at straws”, claiming that Mitchell’s next opportunity of a parole board panel would likely be in two months time.
Lindsay told the court: “There is nothing to advance here.”
Murdered teenager Jodi Jones from Dalkeith, Lothian
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Speaking to Lady Haldane, he said: “The [judicial review] is wholly misconceived and there is very little practical effect when a new hearing will need to be held by April 15”, which will be required to be free of the knowledge and influence of last year’s failed attempt.
He pointed to Mitchell’s lack of cooperation in prison, multiple drugs-related infractions and a lack of respect for prison staff.
He also said this year’s panel “isn’t bound by what’s come before,” allowing them to take “a fresh perspective. Later, he concluded: “The petition, your ladyship takes aim at the wrong target.”
After hearing from both advocate McPhee and Lindsay , Lady Haldane thanked the court and informed the legal teams she would deliver her assessment in due course.
