Scottish Prison Service comes under fire as Luke Mitchell lie detector test is made public on YouTube
Scottish Conservative Chief Whip, John Lamont MSP, has labelled the YouTube video of Luke Mitchell taking a lie detector test to prove his innocence as a “crass stunt”.
The video, posted on the Luke Mitchell is Innocent website, shows Mitchell denying any responsibility to the murder of his then 14-year old girlfriend, Jodi Jones.
Mitchell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for Jones’ murder but has always maintained his innocence. The polygraph test was carried out in last April in Shotts Prison by Terry Mullins, secretary of the British Polygraph Association, who confirmed that Mitchell passed the test.
Despite being sanctioned by the prison authorities, Lamont dismissed the video as “insensitive”, adding “clearly, there was no thought of how the victim's family would feel when this decision was made. It is insensitive in the extreme and we should not be playing out our justice system on YouTube or any online forum, but through the courts”.
The online bid for his freedom comes as Mitchell’s case is under review by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), though polygraph tests are inadmissible in Scottish Courts a report on Mitchell’s public test was included in his submission to the SCCRC.
Speaking to The Herald, Mitchell’s mother, Corinne, said that Mitchell himself had requested the test, adding “he had asked for a polygraph since day one". She continued: “Luke told me he believes the test is a crucial indication of his innocence”.