‘I miss you so much Luvly’ ...tribute from husband of PCSO as man is arrested
DETECTIVES were l ast night questioning a man about the murder of Julia James as a house close to where she lived was searched.
Mrs James, a police community support officer, was bludgeoned to death as she walked her dog in woodland 12 days ago.
Investigators said a man in his 20s was arrested in connection with the murder of the 53-year-old and was in custody last night.
The development came after Mrs James’s devastated husband Paul, 57, commented for the first time – posting a picture of her on social media with the words ‘I miss you so much Luvly xxx’. At about
‘Plainclothes officers rushed through the door’
the time of the man’s arrest at 9.30pm on Friday, police descended on an address in Aylesham, Kent. The detached property was cordoned off as forensics specialists examined the scene.
A neighbour who lives opposite the £ 370,000 home said: ‘ I saw pl ai ncl ot hes of f i cers r ush in through the front door some time after 9pm. There were three or four in plain clothes and officers in uniform outside.
‘I think a young man and a man in his 60s live there, but we didn’t see much of them or know them.’
Another neighbour said: ‘ The police have spoken to me, but I couldn’t help because I don’t know them. They showed me a photo but I didn’t recognise it.’
Farmer Nick Ottewell, 49, said of the family who bought the property as a leasehold in 2018: ‘They have lived here a few years but I don’t know them. Whenever I go past, the curtains always seem to be drawn.’
Mrs James, from the nearby vill age of Snowdown, had been working from home when she took her dog Toby for a walk in Akholt Wood on April 27.
She was seen leaving her house at around 3pm. About an hour later, her body was found with ‘significant head injuries’ on a country path. Her loyal Jack Russell terrier was waiting by her side. Ever since, there had been widespread fear across the community that the attacker would strike again.
Police had warned residents to remain vigilant at all times, as well as letting their loved ones know where they were going and how long they would be out.
Hundreds of officers from Kent Police, other forces and the National Crime Agency ( NCA) have been working on the investigation. Teams have been scouring the countryside and carrying out door- to- door inquiries. The NCA yesterday confirmed it was supporting Kent Police, including providing an interview adviser, an injuries specialist and a forensic psychologist.
Last week, the charity Crimestoppers announced it was offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information that led to the conviction of the killer of Mrs James.
Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards said yesterday: ‘ We continue to urge anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, to contact us. If you were in the Snowdown area between 1pm and 4.30pm on Tuesday, April 27, please contact us.
‘This includes anyone local who may have seen something out of place at the time, or who came across someone who made them feel uneasy – such as feeling compelled to cross the road or change the route they were walking.’
Police chiefs admitted last week they were ‘not 100 per cent sure’ what weapon or implement had been used to kill Mrs James. The grandmother-of-one worked with victims of domestic abuse and had been with Kent Police since 2008.
It came as police investigating the murder of Maria Rawlings released footage of a man they want to identify. It shows him travelling on the 364 bus towards Dagenham, East London, in the early hours of last Tuesday.
The body of Ms Rawlings, 45, was found in shrubbery in Little Heath, Romford, on Tuesday afternoon.