SENIOR politicians are demanding the introduction of age restrictions on the sale of CDs after the music of the “shock rock” artist Marilyn Manson was linked to the brutal murder of Jodi Jones.

Menzies Campbell, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, are among those urging the government to take action to stop unsuitable material being sold to children.

Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is also demanding increased powers for teachers to be able to search pupils for knives.

On Friday, Luke Mitchell, 16, who was obsessed with the occult and the music of Manson, was convicted of the murder and mutilation of Jodi, his 14-year-old girlfriend.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh convicted him after a 42-day trial — the longest single-accused murder trial in Scotland.

Chief superintendent Craig Dobbie, who led the investigation, believes Mitchell may have butchered Jodi after the pair rowed because he was planning to take another girl on holiday.

The killer, who was 14 at the time of the crime, was said to be under the spell of Manson and the wounds he inflicted on his victim were similar to Manson’s paintings of the 1947 “Black Dahlia” murder of a Hollywood starlet.

There is no age restriction on the sale of music CDs in Britain, unlike computer games, videos and DVDs. The American government has threatened to introduce age restrictions for CDs after criticism that the music industry was not doing as much as film studios and games makers in warning parents about inappropriate content.

“With material of this kind freely available it is surely time to introduce a system of uniform classification for all electronic media,” said Campbell. “The evidence in the trial should be a powerful incentive. It may be difficult to establish a direct link between material of this kind and violent behaviour but we surely have to take a precautionary approach.”

Salmond added: “If the principle has been conceded with computer games, there could be a case for extending regulations to other forms of information that could be harm children.”

Advisory stickers are currently fixed to about 1% of CDs where record companies consider them to contain sexually explicit, violent or offensive content. Opponents of regulation say restricting certain albums to over 18s would only encourage children to download them from the internet or get older relatives to buy them.

Meanwhile the EIS said it would welcome the power to search pupils they suspect of carrying weapons. Currently, teachers cannot carry out a body search or check bags or lockers.

David Hamilton, the Midlothian MP, said that teachers should be allowed to conduct random searches.

The Criminal Bar Association, which represents leading QCs, wants the executive to give police powers to search anyone for a weapon. At present they can only search people they suspect of carrying offensive weapons or of being about to commit serious violence.

Mitchell is expected to appeal his conviction after he is sentenced next month.

Yesterday it emerged police have issued him with a panic alarm. If pressed, officers will be at his home within minutes.

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