THE family of murdered schoolgirl Jodi Jones left court today with the satisfaction of knowing their daughter's killer remains behind bars.

Luke Mitchell failed to overturn his conviction for the savage knife attack on his 14-year-old girlfriend.

Appeal judges Lord Justice General Lord Hamilton, sitting with Lords Osborne and Kingarth, took just 20 minutes to announce their decision and dash his hopes of freedom. However, they did condemn the way police questioned him in the wake of the killing as "outrageous."

Jodi's naked, bound and mutilated body was found in June 2003 in woods beside a path that joined her house with the Mitchell home in Dalkeith, Midlothian.

After months of suspicion Mitchell - also 14 at the time of the murder - was charged and brought to trial at the High Court in Edinburgh the following November.

The appeal judges had spent weeks scrutinising Mitchell's claims he did not get a fair trial before announcing today the guilty verdict should stand.

In a rare move, television cameras were allowed in court to record the decision.

Pony-tailed Mitchell, now 19, has always maintained his innocence. Today, his only reaction was the flicker of a smile towards his mum, Corinne, as he was led into court.

Jodi's mum, Judith, sister Janine and other members of the Jones family were sitting on the other side of the court. Mrs Jones wiped a hand across her face in relief as Lord Hamilton finished giving the verdict.

Mitchell's conviction and sentence - in the same courtroom at the High Court in Edinburgh - followed one of the most unusual trials seen in Scotland, which included a visit by jurors to the woods where Jodi was found.

And in a specially constructed court room, a section of the wall which bounded the crime scene was built by theatre set designers to demonstrate key evidence in the prosecution case.

Jodi, arms tied with her own trousers, had suffered terrible injuries - before and after a frenzied knife attack.

Jailing Mitchell for life, trial judge Lord Nimmo Smith ordered he serve at last 20 years before applying for parole, the longest sentence handed down to a youth in Scotland.

During the appeal, defence QC Donald Findlay argued Mitchell did not get a fair trial because of local prejudice. The lawyer also challenged identification evidence, the sufficiency of evidence and an alleged "ambush" by leading surprise evidence when questioning Mitchell's mum and police tactics.

All the grounds were rejected and junior counsel Jane Farquharson told the court further claims of "new evidence" pointing the finger at another suspect, were being dropped.

Mitchell will return to court at a later date to try to cut the length of his minimum sentence.

His only consolation today was the harsh words used to describe a police interview.

The judges said detectives carried out an "overbearing and hostile interrogation" in a bid to make him confess.

"Some of the questions can only be described as outrageous," said Lord Hamilton. But the judges said there was no miscarriage of justice.

Mitchell's mother left court saying only "Luke is innocent. The fight goes on."