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| Jodi killer begins court appeal | Jodi killer begins court appeal |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The teenager found guilty of murdering schoolgirl Jodi Jones has begun his appeal against the conviction. | The teenager found guilty of murdering schoolgirl Jodi Jones has begun his appeal against the conviction. |
| Luke Mitchell is also challenging his sentence at a hearing which is expected to last two weeks at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh. | Luke Mitchell is also challenging his sentence at a hearing which is expected to last two weeks at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh. |
| Jodi, 14, was tied up and stabbed to death in woods near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on 30 June 2003. | Jodi, 14, was tied up and stabbed to death in woods near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on 30 June 2003. |
| Mitchell was found guilty of murder after the longest single accused murder trial in Scottish legal history. | Mitchell was found guilty of murder after the longest single accused murder trial in Scottish legal history. |
| He was detained for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars by Judge Lord Nimmo Smith. | He was detained for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars by Judge Lord Nimmo Smith. |
| Mitchell, now 19, has consistently protested his innocence. | Mitchell, now 19, has consistently protested his innocence. |
| Long-haired Mitchell, wearing a black suit and blue shirt, sat in the dock as his appeal got under way. | |
| It's clear that this particular journey is going to take, I would think, something in the order of about three days to work through Donald Findlay QCDefence lawyer | |
| His defence lawyer, Donald Findlay QC, told the court he would begin by outlining the general background to the case, and a timeline of events, before going on to address the grounds of appeal in detail. | |
| He said the first ground of appeal to be addressed would be the location of the trial. | |
| Mitchell's defence team have previously indicated that they hope to look at possible fresh evidence in the case. | |
| It was decided that this issue would be looked at once other submissions had been made. Mr Findlay described it as "a work in progress". | |
| He said: "It's clear that this particular journey is going to take, I would think, something in the order of about three days to work through." | |
| The appeal is being heard before the Lord Justice General Lord Hamilton, Lord Osborne and Lord Kingarth. | |
| The judges are likely to give their decision at a later date. |