Lorraine Fleming 👇
’She told the court:'I said to Rosemary, 'He looks like he's up to no good'. It was just the way he was standing. It just didn't look right at all.
'Just as we got closer to him, he flicked his hair back off his face.It wasa young boy and I thought aged about17.
'He was dressed all in dark clothing and his jacket was a dark green colour.'
The next day, after learning of the murder,Rosemary phoned her and said: 'I think we should get in touch with the police. It may not mean anything to us but it might mean something to them.'
Miss Fleming was interviewed by officers. Then, in August, she saw a picture of Mitchell in the Record. The photo reminded her of the boy she had seen and she called police to tell them.
She told advocate depute Alan Turnbull QC that, at that time, she didn't know Mitchell or any of his family.
He then read her police statement which said: 'I do recall that the article named the boy as Luke something but the important thing is I recognised the boy as the person I had seen standing at the gate.'
Mr Turnbull asked, as nearly 18 months had passed, would she be able to recognise the same person again.
Lorraine Fleming.
“ She agreed with Donald Findlay QC, defending, that Mitchell hadn't done anything to try to hide himself.
Miss Fleming broke down in tears as he quizzed her about newspaper photos she claimed to have remembered.
She told police that the Record's August 15 picture last year 'showed more of his face and eyes' than a photo she had seen earlier and had reminded her of the youth on Newbattle Road.
Findlay then said a search of Scottish newspapers had revealed no published picture of Mitchell before August 15.
She sobbed: 'You are just confusing me. All I can do is tell you what I saw and that is what I am doing.'
Mr Findlay continued: 'What it does demonstrate is that people, however genuine, however honest, can sometimes make mistakes which can have very serious consequences.'
Miss Fleming replied: 'Yes”
And
“ But Mr Findlay said, despite their good intentions, the witnesses' evidence was confused and he questioned what value it had.
He told the court: "Lorraine Fleming and Rosemary Walsh were undoubtedly two ladies who came to give evidence, to do their best.
"But the reality was, in my submission, that by the end of this chapter of evidence, the evidence given by them was reduced to something akin to the chaotic.
"The most charitable thing that might be said about this area of evidence was that by the end of it, it was quite simply all over the place.”
