Mitchell 'made to look an oddity'

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Evidence that Luke Mitchell kept bottles of urine in his bedroom was presented to jurors to make him seem like an oddity, his lawyer has claimed.

On the fourth day of Mitchell's appeal hearing in Edinburgh, Donald Findlay QC argued that the inclusion of this evidence was "manifestly unfair".

He claimed it had nothing to do with the death of schoolgirl Jodi Jones.

Mitchell is serving a minimum of 20 years after being convicted of murdering Jodi on 30 June, 2003.

Mr Findlay claims that Mitchell's case should never even have come to trial because he was "bullied" by police officers, who tried to force a confession from him.

'Cherry-picked'

He said officers asserted things as fact which were not the case and put inaccurate propositions to him during interviews.

The transcripts were later presented to the jury, despite opposition from Mitchell's defence team.

Once in court, Mr Findlay said, prosecutors "cherry-picked the fruits of the poisoned tree", selecting evidence that suggested Mitchell was sinister and strange.

All this evidence in fact could do was to create some kind of prejudice in the mind of the jury to the effect that Luke was some kind of oddity Donald Findlay QC

During his trial in 2004 and 2005, the High Court in Edinburgh heard a number of bottles full of liquid, found in Mitchell's bedroom at the family home, tested positive for urine.

"It was quite a blatant attempt by the Crown to blacken the young man in the eyes of the jury," Mr Findlay said.

"All this evidence in fact could do, and in my submission was intended to do, was to create some kind of prejudice in the mind of the jury to the effect that Luke was some kind of oddity who ... had a habit which some people would regard as unsavoury, to say the least, and bizarre at the other end of the scale."

On Thursday, the defence lawyer argued that imagery by rock star Marilyn Manson was also used to make the teenager seem sinister.

Mr Findlay claims that there was not sufficient evidence to find Mitchell guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The hearing is sitting before Lords Hamilton, Osborne and Kingarth and is set to continue for another week.