'Net porn link' to Jodi accused's house

Last updated at 16:20 10 January 2005


Pornographic websites were accessed from a computer in the house of murder accused Luke Mitchell on the day schoolgirl Jodi Jones died, a court heard today.

Detective Inspector William Cravens told the High Court in Edinburgh the images were looked at on a computer understood to belong to Shane Mitchell, the older brother of the accused.

Jodi's boyfriend Luke Mitchell, 16, is accused of the murder of the 14-year-old schoolgirl.

The teenager, who was 14 at the time Jodi died, denies murdering the young girl and has lodged two special defences, one of alibi and one of incrimination.

Mr Cravens, of Central Scotland Police, told the court he analysed the computer which had been found in a bedroom of the Mitchell home at Newbattle Abbey Crescent, Dalkeith, Midlothian.

The officer said the websites had been accessed during an internet session which lasted from 4.53pm to 5.16pm on Monday June 30 2003.

"What were the nature of the sites that had been accessed?" prosecuting advocate depute Alan Turnbull QC asked.

The witness responded that pornographic sites had been accessed, as well as an image which had been stored in the computer.

'Joke' images

But during cross-questioning by defence counsel Donald Findlay QC, the lawyer put it to the witness that one of the images "is in fact a joke".

Mr Findlay also said that during that session it appeared that no more porn had been accessed after 5.04pm that day.

Mitchell denies murdering Jodi on June 30 2003 at a wooded area near Roan's Dyke, between the Newbattle and Easthouses areas of Dalkeith.

The charge alleges that the teenager applied a ligature around her arms, and struck her repeatedly on the head, mouth and body with a knife.

He also faces charges of being in possession of a knife or knives in public places, including St David's High School, on various occasions between January 1 and June 30, 2003.

He is further charged with being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin to a number of others, including Jodi, at times between January 1 2003 and April 14 this year.

Mitchell denies all three charges.

False information

Later the court heard Mitchell's brother Shane had been suspected of giving false information during the inquiry into Jodi's death.

Shane, 23, initially said that on June 30, 2003, the day of Jodi's alleged murder, he returned to the family home at Newbattle Abbey Crescent at about 3.40pm.

However four days later he altered a statement to say that he returned home that day between 4.55pm and 5pm.

Giving evidence, Mr Mitchell told the court: "I believe I wanted to make a second statement because there were errors in the first one."

Mr Mitchell also told the court he had visited his brother in custody two or three times since the arrest, the last occasion being in June or July last year.

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now