JODI Jones killer Luke Mitchell’s first bid for freedom has been rejected.
Mitchell’s legal team revealed that his bid was refused on grounds that the parole board “could not adequately assess risk”.
The convicted killer’s adviser Dr Sandra Lean told how there is no appeal against the decision but it can be judicially reviewed which she says is “the only other reasonable option open to him”.
The criminologist slammed the decision and claimed Mitchell had been treated unlawfully while behind bars.
She said: “The process by which the parole board normally assess risk- supervised and then unsupervised community access – was taken away from Luke Mitchell when he was returned to secure conditions in June 2023 unlawfully – on the pretext of phone misuse.
“This has been nothing but a tick box exercise, to convince the public that everyone is following the rules when, in reality, no-one in any form of authority is actually doing so.”
It comes after a psychiatric report ruled the 35-year-old is a “sexual risk” to women.
It is understood cops also contributed to the report which was based on jail officials’ two dossiers following his move from a maximum-security prison to Greenock nick.
Mitchell — who has always denied the blade murder of then-girlfriend Jodi in June 2003 — has since been hauled back to tough HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire after speaking on a podcast.
Jodi’s brutal murder shocked the country 21 years ago.
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Mitchell claimed his dog led him to her mutilated body in woods near Dalkeith, Midlothian.
He insisted his innocence but a jury found the then-16-year-old guilty of murder in January 2005 and he was jailed for at least 20 years.
The Scottish Prison Service and Parole Board for Scotland were approached for comment.