Julia James: Callum Wheeler guilty of PCSO murder

Julia James supported victims of domestic violence in her work as a PCSO

A man has been found guilty of murdering police community support officer Julia James while she was walking her dog in woodland.

Callum Wheeler beat Mrs James to death with a railway jack after "ambushing" her near her Kent home in April 2021.

Wheeler, 22, was an "angry, violent" and "strange man" who had been seen roaming the woods, jurors were told.

Mrs James' husband Paul said: "My heart literally broke in half, and I've been trying to fix it every day."

He also praised his wife for supporting victims of violence as part of her work with the police.

"She just helped everybody, she just couldn't do enough," he said.

• How gamekeeper's photo helped catch PCSO's killer

Bethan Coles, Mrs James' daughter, said it had been like an "out of body experience sometimes to be hearing these awful things and it to be your mum".

She added: "But we needed to see Callum Wheeler in that room and for him to be stood and be held accountable for what it is that he's done."

Callum Wheeler was pictured near Ackholt Wood carrying the murder weapon

Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told Canterbury Crown Court the attack was "not a momentary and spontaneous act of violence".

It was planned "over many days and weeks", she said, and was "an ambush attack where the defendant intended to surprise his victim".

Wheeler was seen walking around the countryside with the weapon the day before Mrs James died, and in the days after as hundreds of police officers scoured the area.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Mrs James, a mother-of-two, was found dead alongside her Jack Russell Toby in Ackholt Wood near her home in Snowdown on 27 April.

The murder shocked the quiet, rural community, and sparked a vast and complex murder investigation.

The court was told Mrs James was "subjected to a very violent and sustained assault to the head".

Ms Morgan, who also described Wheeler as "highly sexualised", said: "He knew that if he waited for the right moment there would be a lone female when nobody else was around, when he could commit this attack."

Police found the murder weapon wrapped up in plastic bags when they searched Wheeler's home

Ms Morgan said on one of those occasions Wheeler visited Ackholt Wood before Mrs James's death "he saw and was seen by Julia James herself".

Mrs James had been "aware of the presence of a strange male" and had described the man to her husband as a "really weird dude", she added.

Following Mrs James's death, Kent Police said they were "not 100 per cent sure" what murder weapon was used, and they had no motive or suspect in the case.

Following police appeals some 1,400 people came forward with information, together with 6700 hours of footage from CCTV, dashcams and doorbells.

One of those to come forward was gamekeeper Gavin Tucker who gave police a photo and dashcam footage of a man he had seen acting suspiciously in the area.

Wheeler was carrying a bag with what turned out to be the murder weapon covered with plastic bags.

On 7 May, detectives released a cropped image and issued a public appeal to find out who he was. Later that day Wheeler was arrested at his home in Aylesham.

Bloodstains matching the DNA of Mrs James were found on items seized from Wheeler's home, including a pair of his muddy black Nike trainers and the metal railway jack.

Pieces of adhesive from the jack were found in Mrs James' hair while Wheeler's DNA was found on her jacket and white vest.

PC Ben Redpath, one of the officers present at his arrest, told the jury Wheeler had said: "Sometimes I do things I cannot control."

The court also heard Wheeler told custody officers: "She was a copper and deserved to die."

Callum Wheeler was a loner with few friends, police said

Mrs James joined Kent Police in 2008, initially being posted to the Ashford district and then moving to Canterbury, nearer to her family, in 2018.

She went on to specialise in supporting victims and witnesses of domestic violence.

Her husband said he was "so proud" of all the people she had helped in her work, particularly victims of domestic violence.

"She was just amazing, I was so proud of her. The work she did was just amazing, to help so many other people, women who were in danger from men, bad men," he added.

Data in Julia James' smart watch traced the route of her final dog walk

Det Supt Gavin Moss, who led the hunt to find Mrs James' killer, said the case was particularly poignant for the force.

"The death of Julia had real ramifications throughout the whole organisation, because she was one of our own," he added.

"What needed to happen was that justice needed to prevail, and we needed to do what we did to catch Callum Wheeler, who was a particularly dangerous individual.

"He caused her catastrophic injuries."

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