How Julia James’ murderer was jobless, porn obsessed loner who spent most of his time in his bedroom

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A ‘highly-sexualised’ loner spied on police after he bludgeoned police community support officer Julia James to death while she walked her dog.  

Porn-obsessed Callum Wheeler, 22, who has been convicted of murder today, was so isolated he spent most of his time in his bedroom, and barely knew his brother. 

Wheeler described as ‘angry, violent and strange’ and a ‘complete and utter loner’, ambushed the 53-year-old mother-of-two in Ackholt Wood near her home in Snowdown, Kent, at around 2.30pm on April 27 last year. 

He had no known friends, few numbers stored in his mobile phone and would spend most of his time alone in his bedroom.

The jury heard that Wheeler, who sat in the dock unbuttoning his shirt and staring at the victim’s family, accessed a number of pornography websites in the days before and after Mrs James’ death and looked up rape. 

Mrs James who had said Wheeler was a ‘really weird dude’ after encountering him one day and avoided the route she saw him on. 

But later after feeling safe again returned to walking in the woods. 

Wheeler lived with his father and one brother in Aylesham after he moved from London two years before Mrs James died. 

Police said he had no job at the time and was not studying after he left school around the age of 15 with no formal qualifications.

Wheeler’s parents separated and his mother stayed in the capital. He also had another brother and was known to go and watch football at the local sports centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and played computer games. 

Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Gavin Moss said: ‘I would describe him as a complete and utter loner. Normally in our investigations we get into the absolute detail of people, and we find out how they live their life.

‘He spent most of his time watching TV in his bedroom. He had no friends, normally we’re able to explore about associates. His mobile telephone had very few contacts on it.

‘He wasn’t studying or working. This was somebody who had a life that consisted of absolutely nothing.

‘He didn’t know what occupation his brother had. Not a great deal came from the family.’

Investigators also believe from sightings around the area that Wheeler was watching as officers scoured the area for clues, following the death of one of their colleagues at his hands.

The investigation was one of the biggest undertaken by Kent Police in recent years, with 1,100 officers and staff involved in the painstaking inquiry.

Mr Moss said that a few days after the killing in nearby Spinney Lane ‘a witness saw a person she described as Callum Wheeler looking down towards the direction where the officers were working, watching’.

He believes Wheeler had been doing the same thing when he was photographed on April 28, the day after Mrs James died, still carrying the weapon in his blue holdall.

Investigators are still no clearer as to why Wheeler packed the railway jack in his bag, walked around the Kent countryside and killed an innocent woman.

There was no known connection to his victim and Wheeler told police he did not know her, and he had no history of violence.

In the months leading up to the brutal murder of the much-loved PCSO, his presence in the tiny hamlet with just 54 houses was conspicuous, and set alarm bells ringing among locals.

Even Mrs James herself felt unnerved after spotting him near her home on numerous occasions, sharing her concerns with her husband about the ‘weird dude’ lurking in the area.

Mr James said on the steps of the court today: ‘I went to him and spoke to him, and I asked him ‘everything alright?’

‘He was so odd and he wouldn’t engage me. So I stood my ground and he walked around me.’

After that, the couple avoided the route for a couple of months, but then Mrs James felt safe again, and Mr James bought her a smart watch to wear while she was out.

Mr James believes Wheeler would have gone on to kill again had he remained free.

He said: ‘For a lot of other people that would have got worse had Julia not died.

‘What that guy was intending to do in my opinion, he was going to hurt many, many women, do lots of bad things.’

Before the murder, Wheeler lived in a nearby street for about two years – but cannot be said to have been an active part of the small community.

Wheeler, who is being held at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, did not react when the guilty verdict was delivered. 

He refused to stand for the verdict and was physically held up by three members of court security staff in the dock.

He stared downwards throughout and made no expression when the jury found him guilty of murder. 

He did not walk into the dock on Monday morning or after lunch, but was instead carried in. 

Wheeler, who lived in Sunshine Corner Avenue, with his father John, and has no previous convictions, had accepted responsibility for killing Mrs James on day one of his trial last week but denied murder at Canterbury Crown Court.

The prosecution said the ‘extremely violent and sustained’ attack with a metal, 3kg railway jack was not ‘a momentary or spontaneous act of rage’ but one which he had planned over ‘many weeks’.

Having lay in wait for a lone, vulnerable female, he confronted 53-year-old Mrs James, who was off duty and not in uniform, at a spot where it was said she had seen him two months earlier.

The jury heard there were no signs of a ‘sustained or violent’ sexual attack on Mrs James, according to the pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination, though it was not completely ruled out.

Nothing was taken from Mrs James – only her house key has never been found. 

He had no connection to the mother-of-two, and offered no explanation for what he had done when questioned by the police. 

Mrs James tried to run away but fell to the ground after either tripping in her wellington boots or from the first blow from the jack.

The court heard as she lay face-down on a bridlepath at the edge of a field, Wheeler then touched her clothing, including the breast area of her vest top worn underneath a coat and jumper, before repeatedly striking her to her head.

She suffered such severe injuries – her skull was said to have been ‘obliterated’ – that a pathologist described them as ‘completely unsurvivable’ even with immediate medical intervention and among the worst he had seen in his 12-year career.

Mrs James’ body was found about an hour-and-a-half later by a family out on a walk. Her Jack Russell Toby was nearby, still wearing his lead and unharmed.

Her phone, on which she had sent her last message about five minutes before she was murdered, was ringing.

The bloodstained railway jack was found propped against a wall in Wheeler’s bedroom on his arrest 10 days later.

He was seen roaming around the countryside with the weapon the day before the 53-year-old died, and in the days after as hundreds of police officers scoured the area for clues.

On arrest, Wheeler told officers ‘sometimes I do things that I cannot control’ and ‘you can’t go into the woods and expect to be safe’.

He also told a member of police staff that he would return to the woodland and rape and kill a woman.

The court heard he later remarked while in police custody that Mrs James had ‘deserved to die’ for being ‘a f***ing fat c**t’.

He also exposed himself to a female police officer in his cell, and chillingly warned custody staff he would ‘knock other women to the ground and rape and kill’ if released, adding ‘you can’t go into the woods and expect to be safe’.

Analysis of his laptop revealed the trawling of numerous pornographic websites in the week before the murder, and a Google search of ‘rape’ just two days before, Canterbury Crown Court, Kent, was told.

Although no one witnessed the fatal attack, Mrs James’ Apple smartwatch recorded the exact time and location she was confronted by Wheeler, with a ‘spike’ in her heart rate from 97bpm to 145bpm, a change in pace and a ‘sudden detour’ off her usual route.

The GPS data proved crucial to the murder hunt, as did dashcam footage of Wheeler being challenged by gamekeeper Gavin Tucker who came face-to-face with him walking in a field the day after the murder.

Despite a heavy police presence and cordon in the area, Wheeler had ventured out armed with the weapon he had used to cave in the Kent Police officer’s skull.

A suspicious Mr Tucker dialled 999 and took two photos of him, one of which was later released by police to the public on May 7 and led to his identification and arrest later that day.

As well as the railway jack being stained with Mrs James’ blood, his DNA was discovered on one of the PCSO’s boots, her Berghaus jacket and her vest top. Her blood was also discovered on his Nike trainers.

Other vital evidence came from almost 7,000 hours of CCTV footage downloaded by police from homes, businesses and dashcams which included images and timings of Wheeler in the vicinity of Ackholt Wood.

Wheeler, who lived in Sunshine Corner Avenue, Aylesham, with his father John, and has no previous convictions, only accepted responsibility for killing Mrs James on day one of his trial last week but denied murder.

He did not give evidence however, none was called on his behalf by his defence team, and none of the prosecution evidence was challenged.

In a legal document to the court, he simply stated: ‘I accept that I did go to Ackholt Wood and I did kill Julia James.

‘I do not want to plead guilty to the crime of murder. I will plead guilty to the crime of manslaughter….I believe I was suffering from diminished responsibility.’

However, trial judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the jury the issues of diminished responsibility and loss of control were irrelevant to the case, and that there were no relevant mental health conditions suffered by Wheeler.

The jury of eight women and four men began deliberating at 3.17pm and returned with the guilty murder verdict at 4.30pm.

Sentencing has been adjourned to be fixed at a later date. 

Wheeler was said by his barrister Oliver Blunt QC to be on the autistic spectrum.

Unbeknown to the jury he is currently held in high security Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire and, although flanked in the dock throughout his trial by four staff members, no psychiatric or medical evidence was called in his defence.

Due to the random nature of the murder, police believe Wheeler may have killed again if he had not been arrested.

Referring to the extensive police operation involving 1,100 officers and staff, senior investigating officer Det Supt Gavin Moss of the Kent and Essex Crime Directorate said: ‘I can never say what was going on in his mind, but the level of resources used was justified because we cannot know that he wouldn’t have done it again.’

Ten days before the murder two other female PCSOs had gone to his home in response to an abandoned 999 call he had made. But he refused to talk to them, laughing as he branded them phoney and ‘not real police’.

Police were yet to reach his home as part of their house-to-house inquiries when he was arrested on May 7. He was aggressive and abusive to officers who had to force their way into his barricaded bedroom.

He demanded who had ‘ratted’ on him but also remarked ‘Sometimes I do things that I can’t control’ and spoke about wanting the death sentence.

As well as using his laptop to visit websites including Chatabate, Babestation and Pornhub, and Googling ‘rape’ shortly before the murder, in its aftermath he searched ‘PCSO Julia James’ on Facebook and repeatedly Googled media articles about her killing right up until the evening of his arrest.

Wheeler’s behaviour in court was at times bizarre. As the prosecution was opening its case, he was seen in the dock unbuttoning his shirt to the navel, smirking and making a ‘V’ sign.

The PCSO’s family, including husband Paul, daughter Bethan Coles, son Patrick Davis and mother Mary Ayres, attended the trial.

Mr James said after the trial: ‘My heart would flutter every time I’d see her and I would tell her that every day, every morning, every night, and we used to call each other three or four times.

‘We were on honeymoon every day, every day it was still a honeymoon.’

The couple had planned to travel, and had spent their honeymoon in Mauritius, which Mr James said was ‘just mind-blowing for her’, and for him the memory of seeing his wife’s joy during the trip would ‘last me the rest of my days’.

Mr James added: ‘I feel it all the time even now, her presence with me.’

His stepson Patrick Davis, 24, said Mr James has been ‘amazing’ and that he has ‘kept really strong’.

Mr Davis said he was worried about Mr James because of how much he loved his mother and how happy they made each other.

Mrs James’s daughter Bethan Coles, 33, said: ‘He made my mum really, really happy.

‘The years that they have spent together have been the happiest I’ve ever seen my mum.’

Ms Coles said they are keen to keep talking about their mother.

‘As a family, we want to get together with friends and think about not how mum’s life ended but actually how she was as a person,’ Ms Coles told the PA news agency.

Mr Davis said they will remember the ‘amazing life’ his mother had and ‘not how it was ended by that monster’. 

Described as a devoted and much-loved officer, she had joined Kent Police in August 2008 and was assigned to specialist role with a domestic violence unit when killed.

Outlining the prosecution case against Wheeler, Alison Morgan QC had told the court his guilt to the offence of murder was ‘clear and obvious’.

Describing him as ‘an angry, violent, strange, highly-sexualised’ man, she said: ‘He waited for Julia James or another vulnerable female to be in that wood.

‘He waited to ambush her, he chased her down. She ran, desperate to get away from her attacker. 

‘Unable to outrun him, caught by surprise, wearing wellington boots, he struck her. She fell to the ground, she broke her wrist.

‘Then, when she was face down on the ground he struck her again and again and again.

‘She had no chance of survival as he hit her in that way repeatedly. Using that weapon he knew that and he intended it.’

Of his planned attack, Ms Morgan added: ‘He knew those woods. He knew that people walk dogs in those woods.

‘He knew that if he waited for the right moment there would be a lone female passing when no one else was around and when he could commit this attack, and he was waiting for that right moment to come along.

‘He had planned this attack and how he would carry it out. This was not some spontaneous act of rage. This was an ambush attack where the defendant intended to surprise his victim.’ 

Wheeler faces a lengthy jail-term when he is sentenced and will be sentenced at a later date. 

‘A vile excuse for a human being’: Daughter of murdered PCSO Julia James slams her killer as the jobless, porn obsessed loner is found guilty of brutally murdering her with an iron bar as she walked her dog

Callum Wheeler, 22, has been found guilty of PCSO Julia James’ murderA jury took just 73 minutes to decide that he had ambushed the 53-year-oldHe refused to stand for the verdict and was physically held up by security staffWheeler had accepted responsibility for killing Mrs James but denied murderThe PSCO’s daughter Bethan Coles, 33, called Wheeler ‘a vile human being’ Julia James’s husband Paul said he was ‘proud’ of all the people she had helped 

By James Fielding 

The daughter of murdered PSCO Julia James slammed her mother’s killer as ‘a vile excuse for a human being’ who was ‘clearly a threat to women’ after he was convicted of murder today.

Callum Wheeler, 22, has been described as a ‘highly-sexualised’ loner who bludgeoned the police community support officer to death as she walked her dog. 

A jury of eight women and four men took just 73 minutes to decide Wheeler, also described as ‘angry, violent and strange’, had ambushed the 53-year-old mother-of-two in Ackholt Wood near her home in Snowdown, Kent, at around 2.30pm on April 27 last year. 

Mrs James’s daughter Bethan Coles, 33, said the trial has been ‘overwhelming’.

Describing Wheeler, she said: ‘I think he’s just a vile excuse for a human being.’

She said he ‘clearly is a threat to women’, adding that the guilty verdict is ‘really important for the safety of people in the community’. 

Ms Coles added her mother’s husband Paul ‘made my mum really, really happy’.

She said: ‘The years that they have spent together have been the happiest I’ve ever seen my mum.’

Ms Coles said they are keen to keep talking about their mother.

‘As a family, we want to get together with friends and think about not how mum’s life ended but actually how she was as a person,’ Ms Coles said.

Meanwhile, Mrs James’s husband Paul paid tribute to her in a tearful statement after 

Speaking outside court, Julia James’s tearful husband Paul James paid tribute to his wife, saying he was ‘so proud’ of all the people she had helped in her work, particularly victims of domestic violence.

Mr James said: ‘She just helped everybody, she just couldn’t do enough.’

He added: ‘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 told reporters: ‘I just hurt so much.’

Paul James fought back tears as he remembered his wife, who helped victims of domestic violence.

He said: ‘The work she did was just amazing, to help so many other people, women particularly, who were in danger from bad men, I cannot be as proud as I am. We’ve got what we deserve today. 

‘The community hasn’t lost just a friend, it’s like a family where we live. She stood so small yet she was massive in what she emanated in her love and affection to everybody. She oozed that into her family and that’s a bugger….we’ll miss that so badly.’

Asked what he felt about Wheeler Mr James said simply: ‘I feel nothing for him.’

Wheeler, 22, who is being held at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, did not react when the guilty verdict was delivered. 

Wheeler refused to stand for the verdict and was physically held up by three members of court security staff in the dock.

He stared downwards throughout and made no expression when the jury found him guilty of murder. 

He did not walk into the dock on Monday morning or after lunch, but was instead carried in. 

Speaking outside court after the conviction Mrs James’s daughter Bethan Coles described Wheeler as ‘just a vile excuse of a human being’.

She said it was important he was arrested for ‘the safety of all women’

Bethan said: ‘He needs to be accountable for what he has done to my mum but he is clearly a threat to women and it was important for keeping women safe to arrest him and get him here.’

She said being in court was a difficult experience and described the guilty verdict as surreal.

‘It’s been a long time coming. It’s surreal. It’s been like an out of body experience. 

‘But I really needed to see Callum Wheeler in that room, to be stood and held accountable for what he had done.’

With her brother Patrick Davis beside her, they were asked how they would describe their mum.

‘She was the best. I know everyone says that about their mum but she was top. She went without so we could grow up having things. There are no words to describe how amazing she was,’ said Mr Davis.

Ms Coles, who herself works for Kent Police, added: ‘When we talk to people about her, it’s always about her sense of humour.

‘She was a positive woman, a feisty woman and someone who hasn’t always had an easy life but has come out the other side. She is everything I want to be in the future.’

The pair also thanked the police investigation.

‘The work they have done is unbelievable. They said they left no stone unturned and they didn’t. They pulled it out the bag,’ said Mr Davis.

Kent Police Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said: ‘Julia James was much loved by all who knew her, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies remain with those she left behind.

‘We are extremely grateful to all those people who provided us with information and offered to look after our teams as they embedded themselves into the community for many months. 

‘It has been an unsettling time for everyone but made easier by the kindness and hospitality of Aylesham residents who were an incredible source of strength to us all and showed clear admiration for Julia.

‘We may never know why Callum Wheeler went out and committed such a reprehensible crime that day but I hope that Julia’s family can take some comfort that he has been found responsible. 

‘Whilst I am pleased with this result and the relentless efforts of officers who worked day and night to ensure justice for Julia’s family, it is impossible not to also be overwhelmed with sadness.

‘Our officers commit to giving every aspect of their lives in the defence of others, particularly the vulnerable, but to lose someone in this way has had such a big impact on the policing family.

‘Julia will not be forgotten by her friends in this force and I have created an annual award in her name for the Police Community Support Officer of the Year.’

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Gavin Moss, said: ‘We left no stone unturned to collect the evidence we needed that led us to Wheeler. Our presence in the area was supported by the community whose help was paramount.

‘This was a very challenging investigation from the outset as it was such a rural location with no CCTV anywhere near the crime scene and a limited number of leads. 

‘It required a mix of expertise within the force and from other parts of the country. Specialist officers searched a vast amount of land and my teams were working around the clock to harvest all the evidence available.

‘Information from the public was without doubt the key to being able to identify Wheeler, which ultimately led us to the DNA evidence that ensured his conviction. 

The passion and determination from all those involved in this investigation, to seek justice for Julia’s family was very evident from the outset. I am immensely proud of everyone who was involved.

‘I hope that Julia’s family can now rest a little easier knowing that Wheeler has been convicted.’

Wheeler, who lived in Sunshine Corner Avenue, Aylesham, with his father John, and has no previous convictions, had accepted responsibility for killing Mrs James on day one of his trial last week but denied murder at Canterbury Crown Court.

The prosecution said the ‘extremely violent and sustained’ attack with a metal, 3kg railway jack was not ‘a momentary or spontaneous act of rage’ but one which he had planned over ‘many weeks’.

Having lay in wait for a lone, vulnerable female, he confronted 53-year-old Mrs James, who was off duty and not in uniform, at a spot where it was said she had seen him two months earlier and had even described him to her husband Paul as ‘a really weird dude’.

He had no connection to the mother-of-two, and offered no explanation for what he had done when questioned by the police. 

Mrs James tried to run away but fell to the ground after either tripping in her wellington boots or from the first blow from the jack.

The court heard as she lay face-down on a bridle path at the edge of a field, Wheeler touched her clothing, including the breast area of her vest top worn underneath a coat and jumper, before repeatedly striking her to her head.

She suffered such severe injuries – her skull was said to have been ‘obliterated’ – that a pathologist described them as ‘completely unsurvivable’ even with immediate medical intervention and among the worst he had seen in his 12-year career.

Mrs James’ body was found about an hour-and-a-half later by a family out on a walk. Her Jack Russell Toby was nearby, still wearing his lead and unharmed.

Her phone, on which she had sent her last message about five minutes before she was murdered, was ringing.

The bloodstained railway jack was found propped against a wall in Wheeler’s bedroom on his arrest 10 days later.

He was seen roaming around the countryside with the weapon the day before the 53-year-old died, and in the days after as hundreds of police officers scoured the area for clues.

On arrest, Wheeler told officers ‘sometimes I do things that I cannot control’ and ‘you can’t go into the woods and expect to be safe’.

He also told a member of police staff that he would return to the woodland and rape and kill a woman.

The court heard he later remarked while in police custody that Mrs James had ‘deserved to die’ for being ‘a f***ing fat c**t’.

He also exposed himself to a female police officer in his cell, and chillingly warned custody staff he would ‘knock other women to the ground and rape and kill’ if released, adding ‘you can’t go into the woods and expect to be safe’.

Analysis of his laptop revealed the trawling of numerous pornographic websites in the week before the murder, and a Google search of ‘rape’ just two days before, Canterbury Crown Court, Kent, was told.

Although no one witnessed the fatal attack, Mrs James’ Apple smartwatch recorded the exact time and location she was confronted by Wheeler, with a ‘spike’ in her heart rate from 97bpm to 145bpm, a change in pace and a ‘sudden detour’ off her usual route.

The GPS data proved crucial to the murder hunt, as did dashcam footage of Wheeler being challenged by gamekeeper Gavin Tucker who came face-to-face with him walking in a field the day after the murder.

Despite a heavy police presence and cordon in the area, Wheeler had ventured out armed with the weapon he had used to cave in the Kent Police officer’s skull.

A suspicious Mr Tucker dialled 999 and took two photos of him, one of which was later released by police to the public on May 7 and led to his identification and arrest later that day.

As well as the railway jack being stained with Mrs James’ blood, his DNA was discovered on one of the PCSO’s boots, her Berghaus jacket and her vest top. Her blood was also discovered on his Nike trainers.

Other vital evidence came from almost 7,000 hours of CCTV footage downloaded by police from homes, businesses and dashcams which included images and timings of Wheeler in the vicinity of Ackholt Wood.

Wheeler, who lived in Sunshine Corner Avenue, Aylesham, with his father John, and has no previous convictions, only accepted responsibility for killing Mrs James on day one of his trial last week but denied murder.

He did not give evidence however, none was called on his behalf by his defence team, and none of the prosecution evidence was challenged.

In a legal document to the court, he simply stated: ‘I accept that I did go to Ackholt Wood and I did kill Julia James.

‘I do not want to plead guilty to the crime of murder. I will plead guilty to the crime of manslaughter….I believe I was suffering from diminished responsibility.’

However, trial judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the jury the issues of diminished responsibility and loss of control were irrelevant to the case, and that there were no relevant mental health conditions suffered by Wheeler.

The jury of eight women and four men began deliberating at 3.17pm and returned with the guilty murder verdict at 4.30pm.

Sentencing has been adjourned to be fixed at a later date. 

Wheeler was said by his barrister Oliver Blunt QC to be on the autistic spectrum.

Unbeknown to the jury he is currently held in high security Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire and, although flanked in the dock throughout his trial by four staff members, no psychiatric or medical evidence was called in his defence.

Due to the random nature of the murder, police believe Wheeler may have killed again if he had not been arrested.

Referring to the extensive police operation involving 1,100 officers and staff, senior investigating officer Det Supt Gavin Moss of the Kent and Essex Crime Directorate said: ‘I can never say what was going on in his mind, but the level of resources used was justified because we cannot know that he wouldn’t have done it again.’

Police have said he dropped out of school at the age of 15 – failing to achieve his GCSEs – and moved to Aylesham from southeast London around two years before the murder to live with his father after his parents split up.

He was unemployed, not studying and described by DS Moss as ‘a complete and utter loner’ whose life consisted of watching TV and playing video games in his bedroom.

He is believed to have no friends, had barely any contacts in his mobile phone, and not even a relationship with his brother.

But residents in the neighbouring rural villages of Aylesham and Snowdown had seen him regularly watching a local football team train twice a week and, more sinisterly, ‘roaming’ surrounding fields and woodland in the months leading up to the murder, at times with the murder weapon.

The court heard others had seen Wheeler in the hours before Mrs James’ death and in the immediate aftermath carrying a large holdall from which the jack, covered in a carrier bag, was protruding.

One woman living near Aylesham village later told police how she had ‘felt uncomfortable’ when she saw him in an alley outside her home between 12noon and 1pm on April 27.

Ten days before the murder two other female PCSOs had gone to his home in response to an abandoned 999 call he had made. But he refused to talk to them, laughing as he branded them phoney and ‘not real police’.

Police were yet to reach his home as part of their house-to-house inquiries when he was arrested on May 7. He was aggressive and abusive to officers who had to force their way into his barricaded bedroom.

He demanded who had ‘ratted’ on him but also remarked ‘Sometimes I do things that I can’t control’ and spoke about wanting the death sentence.

As well as using his laptop to visit websites including Chatabate, Babestation and Pornhub, and Googling ‘rape’ shortly before the murder, in its aftermath he searched ‘PCSO Julia James’ on Facebook and repeatedly Googled media articles about her killing right up until the evening of his arrest.

Wheeler’s behaviour in court was at times bizarre. As the prosecution was opening its case, he was seen in the dock unbuttoning his shirt to the navel, smirking and making a ‘V’ sign.

Mrs James’ family, including husband Paul, daughter Bethan Coles, son Patrick Davis and mum Mary Ayres, attended the trial.

Described as a devoted and much-loved officer, she had joined Kent Police in August 2008 and was assigned to specialist role with a domestic violence unit when killed.

Outlining the prosecution case against Wheeler, Alison Morgan QC had told the court his guilt to the offence of murder was ‘clear and obvious’.

Describing him as ‘an angry, violent, strange, highly-sexualised’ man, she said: ‘He waited for Julia James or another vulnerable female to be in that wood.

‘He waited to ambush her, he chased her down. She ran, desperate to get away from her attacker. 

‘Unable to outrun him, caught by surprise, wearing wellington boots, he struck her. She fell to the ground, she broke her wrist.

‘Then, when she was face down on the ground he struck her again and again and again.

‘She had no chance of survival as he hit her in that way repeatedly. Using that weapon he knew that and he intended it.’

Of his planned attack, Ms Morgan added: ‘He knew those woods. He knew that people walk dogs in those woods.

‘He knew that if he waited for the right moment there would be a lone female passing when no one else was around and when he could commit this attack, and he was waiting for that right moment to come along.

‘He had planned this attack and how he would carry it out. This was not some spontaneous act of rage. This was an ambush attack where the defendant intended to surprise his victim.’ 

Senior Crown advocate and trial junior counsel Martin Yale said after the verdict that Wheeler had acted ‘cowardly and callously’ against a woman who ‘had the right to walk her dog’.

‘Julia was a loving mother, wife, colleague and friend. Her loss is greatly felt.

‘Nothing can make up for what Callum Wheeler has done but we hope today’s guilty verdict can bring (her family) some solace.

‘Julia James had the right to walk her dog and to enjoy life’s freedoms without fear of violence.

‘Callum Wheeler’s actions before, during and after the attack left absolutely no room for doubt that he was the man responsible for Julia’s death.

‘The work of Kent Police in their investigation was meticulous and combined with the painstaking endeavours of the CPS team, the prosecution has been able to present compelling evidence which not only caused Callum Wheeler to finally accept responsibility for Julia’s death but led to the jury to return a verdict of guilty of murder.

‘Whether living in urban or rural communities, all women have the right to be safe and to live their lives without fear of violence.

‘We are tirelessly committed to working closer than ever with our criminal justice partners to tackle each and everyone of those horrific crimes and bringing the perpetrators to justice.’