Man accused of murdering police support officer was ‘aggressive’ during arrest

THE 22-year-old man accused of murdering a police community support officer acted aggressively when police arrested him at his home, jurors have heard.

They were shown footage from the body-worn camera of Pc Ben Redpath, in which Callum Wheeler can be heard hurling expletive-laden insults at officers through his bedroom door as they tried to enter on May 7 last year.

Wheeler could be heard shouting “f*** off” from inside his bedroom, into which he had barricaded himself.

Once officers forced open the door at the home in Aylesham in Kent and handcuffed Wheeler, he told them: “I didn’t do it. Yous are f***ing dead, trust me.”

Pc Redpath told the trial at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday that Wheeler later told the custody officer at Maidstone police station: “Sometimes I do things I cannot control.”

Wheeler is on trial for the alleged murder of Julia James, 53, on April 27 last year, which he denies.

Jurors heard that bloodstains which matched the DNA of killed police community support officer Julia James were found on items seized from Callum Wheeler’s home.

The court was read agreed facts about scientific evidence from the crime scene and the defendant’s possessions which were examined by forensic scientist Stephen Paddock.

Mrs James’ DNA was detected on a pair of Wheeler’s muddy black Nike trainers, as well as on a metal railway jack with which he allegedly inflicted fatal head injuries on the 53-year-old as she walked her dog in fields and woodland near the back of her home in Snowdown, Kent, in April last year.

The forensic expert concluded that “the bar had been used to assault Julia James”, prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told the court.

Pieces of adhesive from the jack were found in Mrs James’ hair while Wheeler’s DNA was found on her jacket and white vest, the court also heard.