Woman PCSO murdered as she walked her terrier
Body found near woods – and faithful dog refused to leave her side
A POLICE community support officer was murdered in a horrific attack while walking her dog on a country footpath.
The body of grandmother Julia James, 53, who is believed to have suffered head injuries, was discovered beside her beloved Jack Russell terrier Toby who refused to leave her side.
Police are investigating whether a stranger targeted the motherof-two at the remote spot in Kent on Tuesday afternoon. It is just two miles from where geologist Lin Russell, 45, and daughter Megan, six, were bludgeoned to death with a hammer as they walked their dog in 1996.
Detectives urged the public to remain ‘vigilant’. No arrests have been made.
They appealed for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious on Monday and Tuesday – prompting speculation the killer
‘Loveliest person you could meet’
may have prowled the area the day before and followed Mrs James on her walk. The victim, whose daughter is a police officer, was offduty when she was attacked around 4pm on Tuesday.
Her family, including her parents and husband Paul, whom she married in 2017, were last night said to be ‘heartbroken’.
The murder has sent shockwaves through Kent Police. Yesterday a distraught officer was seen wiping away a tear at the murder scene. Popular Mrs James, who had won an award for bravery, is understood to have been working from home and took Toby to Ackholt Wood in Snowdown after finishing her shift.
Neighbours said she regularly walked Toby in the area she loved, once describing it in a poem as ‘a place where we belong’.
Mrs James had dreamt of becoming a full-time police officer. She worked on missing persons and domestic abuse cases and was described as ‘the loveliest person you could ever meet’.
In 2010 the PCSO and a colleague were commended for bravery after tackling a suspected shoplifter and recovering £200 of goods.
Neighbour Sean Simmonds, 57, recalled seeing her walk past his house an hour before her body was found. The paramedic said: ‘The dog stayed with her – that’s what the police said.’
He added: ‘Her job was all Julia seemed to talk about. She was always in a good mood, always smiling, upbeat, always chatty, and didn’t seem to be under a lot of stress. She was a case worker for domestic violence and domestic abuse, but because of Covid she was working from home a lot of the last year.’
Mr Simmonds recalled the Russell murders in nearby Chillenden, saying: ‘The Russells were murdered with a hammer and there was a little dog involved in that too.’ Killer Michael Stone was jailed for life for that attack, which Dr Russell’s daughter Josie, then nine, survived.
Mrs James lived in a £250,000 semi in Snowdown with Paul, a former hypnotherapist who became an electrician.
In a touching Facebook post, Mr James recently described his wife as ‘the woman that lights up my life’. Neighbour Leah Southwell, 18, said: ‘She was just the loveliest person you could ever meet. She loved her job – she would always say, “I can’t wait to be an actual police officer”. That’s what she was aiming for.’
Yesterday police searched fields and woodland around the murder scene. Mrs James joined Kent Police as a police community support officer in 2007. Her daughter Bethan Coles is a police officer and Mrs James’s 23-year-old son Patrick lives nearby.
The motive for the killing remained unclear last night. Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards passed on his condolences to the family and said: ‘It saddens me to confirm that the victim was a serving PCSO for Kent Police.’