Julia James: Broadmoor patient Callum Wheeler guilty of murder

Callum Wheeler, a patient at Broadmoor in Crowthorne, used a railway jack, a tool used to lift train tracks, to beat mother-of-two Julia James to death as she walked her dog in fields and woodland near the back of her home in Snowdown, Kent.

The 22-year-old was seen roaming around the countryside with the weapon the day before the 53-year-old died, and in the days after as hundreds of police officers scoured the area for clues.

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On arrest, Wheeler told officers "sometimes I do things that I cannot control" and "you can't go into the woods and expect to be safe".

He also told a member of police staff that he would return to the woodland and rape and kill a woman, and that Mrs James had deserved to die.

Undated handout photo issued by the CPS of a photo taken by gamekeeper Gavin Tucker of Callum Wheeler in a field near Ackholt Wood. Wheeler, 22, is appearing at Canterbury Crown Court where he is accused with the murder of police community support

On Monday afternoon, a jury of eight women and four men at Canterbury Crown Court took less than one hour and 10 minutes to find him guilty of Mrs James's murder.

Wheeler, who is being held at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, did not react when the guilty verdict was delivered.

When asked to stand to hear the verdict, Wheeler did not stand himself but was instead held up by members of staff in the dock.

He did not walk into the dock on Monday morning or after lunch, but was instead carried in.

Undated family handout photo issued by Kent Police of police community support officer Julia James, as Callum Wheeler, 22, is appearing at Canterbury Crown Court where he is accused with her murder. The 53-year-old PCSO was found dead in Akholt Wood near

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Mrs James was off duty on the afternoon of April 27 last year, and was walking her dog, a Jack Russell called Toby, near Ackholt Wood when she was killed.

Detectives used data from her Apple watch to find out where she had walked and when, and pinpoint where she was attacked.

Undated handout photo issued by Kent Police of a jack handle seized from Callum Wheeler's house as he is appearing at Canterbury Crown Court where he is accused with the murder of police community support officer Julia James. The 53-year-old PCSO was

Data showed that her heart rate and walking pace spiked at the point it is believed she spotted Wheeler in the woodland, and changed her route home in a bid to escape.

She had seen him in the same location before, and had described him to her husband Paul as "a really weird dude".

But, in an unexplained outburst of violence, Wheeler, who lived in nearby Aylesham, beat her to death and walked away.

Undated file handout photo issued by Kent Police of Callum Wheeler, 22, who has been found guilty at Canterbury Crown Court of the murder of police community support officer Julia James. The 53-year-old PCSO was found dead in Akholt Wood near her home in

He had no connection to the mother-of-two, and offered no explanation for what he had done when questioned by the police.

Detective Superintendent Gavin Moss, who led the hunt to find Mrs James' killer, said the case was particularly poignant for the force.

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He said: "The death of Julia had real ramifications throughout the whole organisation, because she was one of our own.

"What needed to happen was that justice needed to prevail, and we needed to do what we did to catch Callum Wheeler, who was a particularly dangerous individual.

"He caused her catastrophic injuries."

He will be sentenced at a later date.