Near scene of killing, man at centre of PCSO murder probe
WAlKINg through fields half a mile from the murder scene, this is the man at the centre of a probe into the killing of police community support officer Julia James.
Detectives yesterday released an image of the man they want to trace, saying he is of ‘crucial importance’ to the investigation.
Mrs James, 53, was bludgeoned to death as she walked her dog in woodland near her home on April 27.
The unidentified man was photographed the day after, strolling through fields with his belongings slung on his shoulder in the Spinney lane area of Snowdown, Kent, around 800 yards from the bridleway where the PCSO’s battered body was found.
Yesterday Kent Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards said: ‘ I’m not saying here and now that he is a suspect, but he is of crucial importance to the investigation.’ He appealed for the public’s help in tracing the man, saying he ‘firmly believes’ he has important evidence and could hold the ‘key’ to solving the case.
‘Anybody who knows who that man is, we desperately need you to make contact with us and identify who that man is. If this person is watching, please contact us, you have crucial information,’ he said.
The senior officer said not knowing his identity was ‘a big frustration to the investigation’.
He refused to be drawn on whether the image had been circulated to other relevant police forces in the UK and abroad.
But it is understood that Kent Police has asked other forces and law enforcement agencies including UK Border Force, which it works closely with, whether it matches their records. Yesterday the National Crime Agency, which has been assisting officers, said it would be circulating the image on social media to reach ‘partners in other countries’.
Mr Richards said the man was someone ‘that I think is key to unlocking what happened to Julia’, adding that he was ‘certainly in the area that we are very, very interested in.’
When asked whether the man is a British national or if he is foreign and may have already left the country, Mr Richards replied: ‘Unfortunately ... we haven’t identified him so it’s not a question I can answer.’
Yesterday locals claimed to have seen the same man in the area two weeks earlier, prompting speculation he could be sleeping rough in one of the derelict buildings surrounding the former coal mine near Aylesham, which officers have been seen searching.
Tradesman Tony Knight said he had spoken to the police about a potential sighting.
He wrote online: ‘ Think I saw this man, middle of April, two weeks before 26th April.
‘Will speak to police and tell all about it.’ Mr Richards would not say who had taken the photograph, but praised members of the public for submitting more than 1,000 pieces of information.
He added: ‘We are trying to identify routes that the offender may have taken both approaching and leaving the area where the offence took place so you will see us in many locations in that area.’
Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information that leads to the conviction of the killer of grandmother Mrs James.
Yesterday her daughter Bethan Coles, herself a Kent police officer, wrote on Facebook: ‘Who is this man? Do you know him?
‘Have you seen him? Please contact Kent Police.’
And Kent Chief Constable Alan Pughsley urged the killer to go to police, saying: ‘We will get you – so the best thing you can do is hand yourself in.’
‘Could hold the key to solving the case’