Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Julia’s killer to
A“sick and twisted” killer who murdered a PCSO in cold blood will serve at least 37 years behind bars before being considered for release.
Callum Wheeler, 22, was jailed for life on Friday, and given the lengthy minimum term for bludgeoning Julia James to death as she walked her dog in Snowdown, near Canterbury, on April 27 last year.
Following a six-day trial in May, a jury took little more than an hour to convict him of murdering the much-loved mum-of-two on a remote footpath.
The sentence was delivered by Judge Mr Justice Mark Wall to a packed Canterbury Crown Court, where a handcuffed Wheeler had arrived in the dock, carried by security staff and flanked by five workers from psychiatric hospital HMP Broadmoor.
The judge told Wheeler: “Your victim was only 53 when she died. Your actions have also devastated the lives of the whole of her family. It was apparent how loved Julia was.
“You knew how quiet the area was and how easy it would be to attack someone there.
“You launched a brutal and vicious attack on her on the ground, hitting her numerous times to the back of the head with a heavy bar.
“The injuries were so widespread that the pathologist, when asked how many times you hit her, could only say, ‘Not one or two but whether it was eight, nine or 16, I cannot say’.
“This attack was not a spur of the moment aberration by you; rather, it was an attack which was planned and thought through in advance.”
The judge told Wheeler that although he is an inpatient at HMP Broadmoor, “there is no clear evidence of a direct link to your disorder and the offence”.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC described Julia’s killing as “sexually motivated,” explaining Wheeler’s DNA was discovered on her chest.
“Somehow this defendant must have touched her, and we invite the court to conclude that touching must have been sexual in nature,” she said.
She added Wheeler repeatedly made sexualised and vile remarks towards officers, said Julia “deserved to die,” and threatened to rape women, while in custody.
Officers also prevented Wheeler from performing a sex act on himself.
Mitigating for Wheeler, Oliver Blunt QC pointed to the fact Wheeler was 21 at the time of the attack and there was “no evidence of sexual assault”.
But he conceded the killer was “highly sexualised”, saying his behaviour stemmed from his being “grossly immature”.
He added: “This was a horrific
case. Julia James did nothing to justify what was an appalling assault upon her.”
Julia’s body was discovered by a family walking in Ackholt Wood on the afternoon of April 27.
The police community support officer was just 400 metres from her home and had been walking her Jack Russell, Toby, when she was violently attacked.
Her death rocked the local community and sparked a huge manhunt – one of Kent Police’s largest murder investigations to date.
Hundreds of officers searched huge swathes of countryside, spoke to 5,000 residents and viewed 7,000 hours of CCTV footage, as police worked desperately to trace her killer.
A major breakthrough came 10 days after Julia’s death, when a suspicious man photographed near the murder scene the day after the horrific killing was identified as Wheeler.
On May 7, he was arrested at his home in Sunshine Corner Avenue, Aylesham, just a mile from where Julia was killed.
He had lived there with his father and one of his two brothers for about two years prior to the shocking crime, having pre
viously lived in south-east London.
When police arrived, Wheeler had barricaded himself inside his bedroom, and a “very loud, very aggressive” banging noise was emitting from inside.
Officers burst into the room and apprehended him, as he protested his innocence and made death threats towards the police.
As he was booked into custody at Maidstone Police Station, he said: “Sometimes I do things I cannot control”.
Julia James joined Kent Police as a PCSO [Police community support officer] in 2008, and was most recently based at Canterbury police station, where she supported victims of domestic abuse.
Her family described her as “fiercely loyal” and someone who “loved with her whole heart”, while colleagues remembered her as a “deeply loved” and devoted PCSO.
Meanwhile, police described Wheeler as “a complete and utter loner”, who had no friends and spent the majority of his time watching TV in his bedroom.
Police found the murder weapon – a metre-long handle of a tool used to lift pieces of railway track – propped up against Wheeler’s bedroom wall, wrapped in carrier bags.
It would later emerge that Wheeler, who has a history of mental illness, had prowled the area with the weapon in the days before and after his attack on Julia.
Tests on the tool – which weighed almost half-a–found stone it contained Julia’s blood and Wheeler’s skin cells.
Wheeler’s skin cells were also found on Julia’s clothing
‘This attack was not a spur of the moment aberration by you; it was planned…’
and one of her Wellington boots, while her blood was found on both of his trainers.
He pleaded not guilty to Julia’s murder, sparking a trial that took place at Canterbury Crown Court this April.
Wheeler attended in person each day, travelling from high-security psychiatric hospital HMP Broadmoor.
The trial revealed further harrowing details of the brutal murder. It heard how, on April 27, Wheeler had waited in the woods and “ambushed” Julia, chasing her down before hitting her “again and again and again” with the railway jack.
She had walked Toby to her and her husband’s favourite spot in Ackholt Wood, known for its proliferation of butterflies. But as she turned back and headed home, she had spotted Wheeler lurking in the woodland.
An Apple Watch Julia had been wearing that afternoon helped police establish her final movements, and tragically showed her heartbeat soar as she tried desperately to flee.
But unable to outrun Wheeler - hindered by the Wellington boots she was wearing – he caught up with her and struck her repeatedly over the head.
Giving evidence at the trial, a pathologist described Julia’s “completely unsuras vivable” head injuries “the worst I have seen”.
Dr Olaf Biedrzycki concluded Julia’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head, adding there was “no doubt she was unconscious after the first blow”.
Julia’s body lay on a path beside Ackholt Wood for about an hour-and-a-half before it was discovered by a family out for a walk.
They had discovered Toby wandering while still wearing a lead, before finding Julia and calling 999.