A man who stalked women in the woods has been found guilty of bludgeoning a police community support officer to death.
Callum Wheeler chased and ambushed Julia James, 53, with a 3kg metal railway jack as she walked her dog near her home in Snowdown, Kent, in April last year. The 22-year-old, who was described by police as a “loner”, was convicted of murder after a six-day trial at Canterbury crown court.
The court heard James had twice spotted Wheeler lurking in the woods in the months before the murder, telling her husband that she had passed “a really weird dude”. In February 2021 the couple saw him loitering in the same place.
Several witnesses also spotted Wheeler acting suspiciously in the area in the days leading up to the brutal attack on 27 April. In that same period, Wheeler visited pornographic websites 42 times and searched the word “rape”.
There was no evidence of sexual assault but the prosecutor questioned why Wheeler’s DNA had been found near the breast area of a vest James wore under her jumper and coat.
On Monday, Wheeler refused to stand and had to be held up by members of staff as a jury of eight women and four men returned its verdict in one hour and 10 minutes. Wheeler, who is being held at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital, was carried into the dock earlier in the day.
Speaking outside court, James’s daughter, Bethan Coles, 33, fought back tears as she said: “It’s surreal, it’s been like an out of body experience sometimes to be hearing these awful things and it to be your mum. It’s very difficult.
“I think [Wheeler’s] just a vile excuse for a human being. He needs to be held accountable for what he’s done to my mum but I think what is important is that he clearly is a threat to women so it’s important in keeping other women safe.”
James’s son Patrick Davis, 24, branded Wheeler a “monster”. Her husband, Paul, heaped praise on his wife for helping people, particularly victims of domestic violence, through her work. He said: “She was just amazing – I was so proud of her. The work she did was just amazing, to help so many other people, women who were in danger from men, bad men.”
The 58-year-old hypnotherapist said Wheeler would have gone on to kill again, saying: “For a lot of other people that would have got worse had Julia not died.
“What that guy was intending to do in my opinion, he was going to hurt many, many women, do lots of bad things.”
Officers from Kent police also paid tribute to James, a “dedicated and devoted” officer, who joined the force in 2008.
Deputy chief constable Tim Smith said the case was “extremely poignant”, adding: “Many of our staff knew Julia intimately as a friend. The impact on us has been far more profound than any other murder in the county. Julia was very much loved and known by staff of all ranks and roles.
“There is a very personal impact on us as a force. We miss her greatly.”
In her closing speech on Monday, the prosecutor, Alison Morgan QC, described Wheeler as “an angry, violent, strange, highly sexualised man” who waited in Ackholt Wood in Snowdown for “a lone female” to attack.
“There is no mental health defence available to him,” she said. But the defence barrister, Oliver Blunt QC, questioned whether Wheeler had the “requisite intent” to kill.
After his arrest on 7 May 2021, he exposed himself to female police officers and tried to masturbate in front of them before asking to be “spanked”. He told custody staff that James deserved to die and said that if he was released he would rape and kill women.
He said: “You can’t go into the woods and expect to be safe.” He said he would go back to the scene of his crime and “have sex with women without their consent”.
James, a mother of two, had been walking her jack russell, Toby, to an area of Ackholt Wood she knew as “butterfly corner” when she spotted Wheeler. Her Apple smartwatch revealed how her heart rate and pace increased dramatically as she ran for her life. But Wheeler chased her down and struck her over the head with a railway jack, inflicting what a pathologist described as “unsurvivable injuries”.
The random nature of the attack led police to believe Wheeler may have killed again. He spent the days after the attack roaming around the area with the murder weapon – a 97cm-long cylindrical bar used to lift train tracks – protruding from his bag. It was later found in his bedroom.
The senior investigating officer, Det Supt Gavin Moss, said: “The level of resources used was justified because we cannot know that he wouldn’t have done it again.”
Born in Southwark in February 2000, Wheeler is the youngest of three sons. He had a history of mental health problems and dropped out of school at 15, failing to achieve GCSEs.
He moved to Aylesham, Kent, with his father and younger brother about two years ago after his parents separated.
Police described Wheeler, who has no previous convictions or cautions, as an “absolute loner” who did not even have a relationship with the brother he lived with.
Moss said: “Wheeler wasn’t studying. He wasn’t working. I would describe him as a complete and utter loner … This was somebody who had a life that existed of absolutely nothing. He’d spend most of his time watching TV in his bedroom.
“He had no friends … Even his mobile telephone had very few contacts, so we knew very little about him.”
