(425)  JODI JONES CASE

On 21 January 2005 Luke Mitchell (16) was found guilty by a majority jury verdict of the 2003 murder of his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones.  Mitchell himself was also 14 at the time of the killing.  The trial in Edinburgh, which attracted enormous public attention, lasted 43 days, the longest-ever trial of a single accused in Scotland.  On 11 February Mitchell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a judicial recommendation that he serve at least 20 years.  On 14 February papers confirming an appeal against conviction were lodged in court.