Did dognapper kill tragic PCSO Julia?
VILLAGERS had been told to beware of approaches from dognappers in the area where a police worker was murdered while walking her terrier, it was claimed yesterday.
Julia James, 53, was bludgeoned to death while out walking on a wooded path near her home in Snowdown, Kent.
The PCSO was found dead on Tuesday afternoon with her Jack Russell Toby alive and well by her side.
Dozens of officers have scoured the fields and footpaths around the area where she was found. However, they have said they are no closer to finding a motive or suspect despite being assisted by specialist investigators from the National Crime Agency.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that Mrs James was attacked by a sexual predator or that her murder was linked to her work in a domestic violence unit.
But it has emerged that a potential ‘dognapping’ incident took place weeks before the grandmother’s death – leading to suggestions that the killing could have been a dognapping gone wrong.
A warning, published in a local parish magazine, said that a man had approached dogwalkers in March and asked to ‘exchange’ their pets for cigarettes or for nothing.
The parish magazine of Nonington, less than two miles from Snowdown, warned walkers ‘not to be alone if possible’ and added that ‘extra precautions should be taken’.
These included: ‘Walking with a stick, keeping your dog close and on a lead, carrying an alarm and having your mobile phone fully charged.’
It continued: ‘Please can you report any such approaches to police, taking careful note of any car number plates and other identifying details.’
Yesterday two dogwalkers claimed there had been a number of related incidents – including ones involving a fake RSPCA van.
Bob Hales, 74, said: ‘We did have a little spate of attempted dognappings around here, mainly in Wingham [five miles from Snowdown]. Apparently there was a van going around with RSPCA on the side but it wasn’t really the RSPCA.’
His neighbour Pat Moon, 77, said she had heard of several violent dognapping attempts in the fields between Nonington and Aylesham, a village overlooking Snowdown.
She said: ‘I’ve heard that people have been trying to take dogs and people have been beaten up. It was about two months ago I heard this. It’s quite scary.
‘We tend to avoid that area and just walk our dogs around the back.’
‘Don’t be alone if possible’