Watching final walk a moving experience

Police allowed about 20 members of the press access to the reconstruction of Julia's final dog walk on Tuesday, writes Lydia Chantlerhicks.

The PCSO'S final moments have been on many of our minds these past couple of weeks. But there was something especially moving about watching a woman dressed just like Julia strolling along the very path she had walked on that fateful afternoon.

This was heightened by the fact Toby - Julia's loyal Jack Russell, who had been waiting by her body when she was found - was there by the actor's side.

Julia's final walk - the walk she took daily - led from behind her home in The Crescent, along a grassy path and into a small woodland, now dappled with Spring sunshine and carpeted in undergrowth.

It then led to an enormous field - all of these being areas that police have scoured in the last fortnight. Searching the expansive area for pertinent evidence must truly have been a gargantuan task.

For one thing, the ground underfoot is covered in litter - the hedgerows and field edges strewn with crushed lager cans, and scraps of plastic - and the fields are densely planted with crops.

Julia and Toby walked around part of the massive field, and onto a bridleway.

It was here the re-enactment ended - a short distance from where Julia was found dead.

On Tuesday, as the sun beat down and a warm wind rippled the crops, that spot felt quiet and remote, but also open and safe - a solitary house standing close by, and Julia's own home just a few hundred metres away. The news police have charged a suspect has come as a massive relief to many people in the surrounding area, many of whom previously enjoyed walking there.

As we await the court proceedings, it is important that members of the public do not speculate publicly about the case or suspect.

Anyone with information should contact the police.