THE MOTHER of a convicted killer has released a video of herself passing a lie detector test in a new bid to prove his innocence.
Corinne Mitchell, mother of Luke Mitchell who was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in 2003, posted the video just two weeks after her son posted a video of him passing a lie detector test.
In this latest video, the 53-year-old appears to back her claims that her son was at home when his girlfriend, Jodi Jones, was murdered in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
A report on the test has now been submitted to investigators probing whether Mitchell could have been the victim of miscarriage of justice.
Mrs Mitchell said: “Luke and I were desperate to have lie detector tests from day one.
“Hopefully, my video will ram home the message that my son was wrongly convicted.”
Jodi Jones was found in woodland near her home in Dalkeith in 2003 after having her throat slashed, being stripped naked and mutilated.
Mitchell was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to serve at least 20 years in 2005.
During the police investigations, Mrs Mitchell was accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice, before the charges were dropped.
She was also accused of providing a false alibi for her son and being an accomplice in the murder.
She denied both accusations and in February took the lie detector test.
The video was posted last night on the Luke Mitchell Is Innocent campaign website and on their YouTube page.
According to the expert who carried out the test, Mitchell, who denies murdering his girlfriend, said he passed.
Questions were raised last week in the Scottish Parliament about why permission had been granted by the Scottish Prison Service to make the footage publicly available.
But campaigners battling to free Mitchell say no upset to the family of Jodi Jones was intended.
However, a source close to the Jones family said: “This is unbelievable. Surely Jodi’s family have suffered enough?
“This test doesn’t prove anything and putting it on the internet is just a crass publicity stunt.”
John Lamont, Scottish Conservative MSP, said: “Scotland’s justice system has never been played out on the internet in the past, and there’s no reason why it should be now.”
The results of a polygraph tests are not admissible in Scottish courts but the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) say it can take the material into account.
A spokesman for the SCCRC said: “An applicant can bring that to us and it’s for our board and our investigators to consider its relevance and whether or not there is anything they can
draw from it in terms of making the overall decision.”
The video of Luke Mitchell has been watched in nearly 130 countries by almost 30,000 people.
Dr Sandra Lean, a criminologist, visited Mitchel in Shotts Prison, Lanarkshire, after the video was made public.
She said: “Luke told me he knows the test isn’t admissible but he didn’t do it for use in a criminal court.
“He did it to provide evidence for the court of public opinion. I have often said that’s where he was tried.
“He feels people are at last taking a step back and looking at the facts of the case.
“The flow of readers increased steadily during the week. More people are starting to ask questions about this case.
“He was pleased when I told him the comment posted about the video on YouTube were roughly 50% positive.
“That’s a massive change in opinion as, in the past, they’d have been almost 100% negative.”
