View David’s profileDavid Scofield
David Scofield 8:22 PM
Much has been made about the fact that Luke made a call to the speaking clock at 1654. And yet we are told text messages made on Mrs Jones' phone between Jodie and Luke that preceded this call were not preserved. On what basis were they lost? I believe mobile phone forensics can in most cases recover lost data?
[10] The deceased's freedom to go out of an evening was restricted by her mother in the weeks prior to her death, but she was released from that restriction on the afternoon of the murder. She arrived home at around 1605 hours. At 1635 she used her mother's mobile phone to send a text message to the appellant. The appellant responded at 1636. A further text was sent by the deceased to him at 1638. The terms of these text messages were not preserved. The deceased left her house at about 1650, informing her mother that she was going to meet the appellant and would be "mucking about up here". At 1654 a call was made from the appellant's mobile telephone to the speaking clock.
I see this aspect as a cul-de-sac. Mobile phones were still pretty basic in 2003. The first iphone came out in 2007. The most popular at the time was the infamous Nokia 3310. With these early phones it was easier to delete messages by mistake. You could delete the latest text but on some phones if you pressed a button twice it would switch to delete all.
There are too many variables to this aspect to reach any conclusion.
They always deleted their messages so their parents could not know what they were up to with regard to sex and drug issues. Why was JJ under a curfew? They deleted them because storage was limited. JJ deleted them because she was texting other individuals. LM was just playing with his phone while he waited. Most phones had up to four basic games. He was checking the time because his watch was playing up and she was late. He was just doodling with the phone. A less than tec savvy police man deleted them in error. The messages hinted at an alternative suspect and they deleted them to cover up their mistakes.
One can go on forever with this but ultimately it is unresolvable and may not relate in any way to the killing.
They do provide aspects of the full timeline.