The man accused of murdering Julia James was "highly sexualised" and had "rape" on his mind when he killed the PCSO, a court has heard.

The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of Callum Wheeler, 22, who is accused of murdering the much-loved mum-of-two.

Earlier today, the prosecution and defence gave their closing arguments at Canterbury Crown Court.

Addressing jurors for the first time, the defence said the panel must “form a picture of the man” living in an “apparently aimless existence".

But in her final speech, prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told jurors “rape” was “plainly” on Wheeler’s mind, and that he had confessed wanting to "rape and kill" women.

She pointed at porn searches discovered on his computer, where he had typed in “rape” two days before ambushing her.

“He was a highly sexualised individual, members of the jury," she said.

"The search for the word 'rape', of course, two days before the attack on Julia James, two days before that attack when he found Julia James isolated and vulnerable, one day before he was touring with that weapon, that is what the prosecution say was plainly on his mind.”

Ms Morgan told how Wheeler exposed himself to female police officers “whenever he got the chance” while in custody.

And he told officers he “wanted to get women on the ground and rape and kill them,” she continued.

In his closing speech, defence barrister Oliver Blunt QC urged jurors to put out of their minds “all emotion and outrage” before pointing out Wheeler has no previous convictions.

“What you have here is a young man leading an apparently aimless existence, and who was probably cocooned at times in his bedroom, downloading the internet," he said.

He highlighted how Wheeler, on April 17, “invited the police” to his own address, with the weapon inside his bedroom.

“It doesn't suggest a great clarity of thought does it?” he said.

“If you are about the business of lying in wait and ambushing someone, why would you arm yourself with such an implement?” he said.

“That object would not appear to be a natural weapon of choice. It’s not only difficult to wield, it’s also difficult to conceal and even more burdensome to run with.”

He added knives or tools, such as a hammer or a rock, would be easier to handle and conceal if if a killer is “about the business of stalking, even ambushing” a victim.

And he stressed despite Wheeler’s reportedly odd behaviour, while touring the village in the months and weeks before Julia’s death, there were “never any allegation of any threat to anyone”.

Mr Blunt QC stressed Wheeler, by using grass to cover an area of Julia’s blood, was “hardly going to avoid the discovery of Julia James’ body.”

He continued: “What we do invite your attention to, is evidence which demonstrates the defendant immediately after these events, is walking along the road in plain sight.

“There is absolutely no attempt by him to cut through the woods to evade detection - does he know what he’s done?

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

Before the closing speeches began, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the jurors to put their emotions aside when considering their verdict.

“The defence has challenged no part in this trial, he accepts responsibility of killing Julia James, but has not said what his intentions were," she said.

“You must put aside any emotional response to the evidence, be objective, the golden rule for every jury is you must return a verdict which is true, it is based on evidence, not emotion.”

She added that jurors are "not required to consider" the concepts of manslaughter or diminished responsibility.

“Motive is not part of the ingredients of the offence," she said. "It is not part of the prosecution’s task to prove what the defendant’s motive was."

Since the murder trial began last Monday, the prosecution has alleged Wheeler "chased down" Julia in a remote spot last year before bludgeoning her "again and again" with a heavy pole.

The trial was initially expected to last four weeks, but defence barrister Oliver Blunt QC revealed last week that no evidence will be offered on behalf of Wheeler.

Julia James, 53, was killed while walking her dog in countryside near her home in the hamlet of Snowdown, outside Canterbury, on April 27 last year.

Wheeler has admitted killing the PCSO, but maintains it was not murder.

The prosecution - which is seeking to prove it was murder as Wheeler had intended to kill or seriously injure the mum-of-two - has lain out how it believes events unfolded that fateful day.

Evidence has been heard from witnesses including a pathologist who described Julia's injuries as "the worst I have seen", and from a gamekeeper who spotted "suspicious" Wheeler less than a mile from the crime scene the day after Julia was killed.

A replica of the alleged murder weapon was last week circulated among jurors.

The prosecution alleges Wheeler bludgeoned Julia to death using a railway jack handle, measuring close to one metre and weighing almost half-a-stone.

Police officers are said to have found the weapon inside Wheeler’s bedroom when they carried out a search of his home.

It was wrapped in plastic bags, says the prosecution, and Julia’s blood was found upon it in various places, along with Wheeler’s DNA.

Jurors view footage from arrest

Bodyworn police footage played to jurors last week showed the dramatic moment officers burst into Wheeler's bedroom and arrested him, with the jack handle visibly propped against the bedroom wall.

PC Ben Redpath told the jury that when officers went to arrest Wheeler, he had barricaded himself inside his bedroom, and a "loud banging" was emitting from inside.

The PC told how he and other officers forced their way into the room and arrested Wheeler.

"There was some banging coming from inside the bedroom - it was very loud, very aggressive," he told jurors.

The defendant repeatedly protested his innocence and made death threats towards the police, the court heard.

As Wheeler was booked into custody at Maidstone Police Station he said: "Sometimes I do things I cannot control," PC Redpath told jurors.

In the coming days CSI investigators would seize the jack handle from Wheeler's home, alongside items of clothing that allegedly matched those Wheeler wore on the day Julia was killed.

A Tesco carrier bag was discovered inside a blue and black duffle bag, with a maroon plastic bag and laptop also recovered.

Following his arrest, Wheeler told staff that if he was released he would go back to the woods to "rape and kill" women, the court heard last week.

He also allegedly said that Julia had "deserved to die".

Gavin Moss, senior investigating officer in the case, told of the scale of the investigation which involved 1,100 police officers and members of staff.

He said 5,000 members of the public were spoken with across 2,500 homes.

The manhunt also included 534 downloads of CCTV footage, containing 6,700 hours of material, used to identify Wheeler and determine his movements after Julia's death.

The force would identify Wheeler by May 7, with a strong police presence maintained for 33 days after Julia's body was found.

'Ambushed and chased down'

Julia had been walking her beloved Jack Russell, Toby, in the countryside behind her home when she was killed.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC alleges Wheeler "waited for Julia James or another vulnerable female to be in that woods"

"He waited to ambush her, he chased her down," she told the jury.

"She ran, desperate to get away from her attacker.

“Unable to outrun him, he struck her. She fell to the ground, she broke her wrist, then when she was face down on the ground he struck her again and again and again. She had no chance of survival."

Ms Morgan told jurors Julia was walking to the personally significant ‘butterfly corner’, on the cusp of woodland on that fateful day.

Shortly before, Wheeler, carrying a railway jack protruding from his bag, was recorded on CCTV leaving his Sunshine Corner Avenue home.

He was filmed approaching a gap in the hedge leading to Adisham Road, with the weapon cloaked with a white carrier bag.

Only minutes before, Wheeler’s mobile phone was disconnected from its network, explained prosecutor Alison Morgan QC.

'Waiting in the woods'

The court heard how mother-of-two Julia “must have seen her attacker waiting in the woods”, armed.

“Julia ran to save herself, along the side of her path," she said.

She was chased by her attacker,” the prosecutor continued: “It is likely that she fell as she ran - either from the first blow from her attacker or by tripping - leading to her left wrist being fractured.”

She argued Julia, while bleeding, moved a short distance as she lay face down.

“In her final position, she was then struck repeatedly - while she was face down on the ground with her hood up,” she said.

“Julia James died extremely rapidly given the severity of the incapacitating blows which she received.”

Wheeler tried concealing an area of blood with recently torn grass, while Julia’s glasses - which she dropped during the chase - were discovered 50 metres away, the prosecutor alleged.

It is unclear how long Wheeler spent at the scene, Ms Morgan explained, but he was allegedly spotted in Spinney Lane carrying a bulky rucksack heading back towards Aylesham shortly after 3pm.

Dashcam footage also captured Wheeler returning home with the weapon concealed in a blue and black holdall.

A family taking a walk through Ackholt Woods would soon discover Julia’s body.

The Gillies family noticed a small dog with its lead attached but no owner, the court heard.

“The dog was Julia James’ dog Toby, who had remained in the vicinity after the attack on her," Ms Morgan said.

“They looked around the area for the owner of the dog and saw Julia James’ body lying on the ground.

“After receiving no response to their calls to her, they called 999,” Ms Morgan said.

A post-mortem examination by pathologist Dr Olaf Biedrzycki revealed Julia died after suffering devastating blunt force trauma to her head.

It was ruled the severity of Julia’s injuries to the back of her head likely killed her instantaneously.

Discovery of Julia's body

On Wednesday, jurors were shown bodycam footage of the moment PCSO Emma Carmichael came across Julia’s body, face down and hood up, lying beside Ackholt Wood in the hamlet of Snowdown on April 27 last year.

Footage seen by the jury and members of Julia's family in court showed PCSO Carmichael approaching Julia.

As the officer touched her back, she could be heard saying: “Hello, can you hear me?”, while repeating “hello?”.

PCSO Carmichael could then be heard speaking on her police radio: “I don’t reckon this female is alive, but I don’t want to touch her any more, because I think this is suspicious.”

Julia's final moments

The court heard Julia’s Apple Watch chartered her last moments along the bridleway, with her walking pace and heart rate spiking suddenly.

“She took a sudden detour out from the wooded area, along the side of a field and as she did, she dropped her glasses," Ms Morgan told the jury.

“Her heart rate escalated dramatically from 97 to 145 bpm and then dropped off - there was no further movement after 2.35pm."

"Julia James died extremely rapidly given the severity of the incapacitating blows which she received..."

A number of witnesses had seen Wheeler, who lived with his father, walking in the area during the months leading up to the attack, jurors heard.

And he had been “roaming around the area near to Ackholt Wood” with the weapon, 24 hours before attacking Julia,” Ms Morgan explained.

Wheeler had familiarised himself with the woods in April 2021, even having come face to face with Julia, the prosecutor added.

'Strange male roaming the area'

Ms James had previously been "aware of the presence of a strange male" during a walk and described him to husband Paul James as a "really weird dude", she added.

She later pointed the man out to Mr James during a walk together about two months before her death.

Mr James would later create an e-fit of the male he saw.

“The image created has a striking similarity to the defendant," Ms Morgan said.

“Paul James would then go on to identify the defendant as the male seen in the woods at an identification procedure.

"The defendant went out the next day carrying the weapon, why he did that is known only to him.

"It could be that he was goading the police who were in the vicinity, or it could be that he was looking for somewhere to dispose of the weapon," the prosecutor said.

The photo that helped trace a killer

Wheeler was photographed less than a mile from the crime scene, the day after Julia was killed.

Local farmer Gavin Tucker - whose land includes Ackholt Wood - spotted Wheeler in Pond Lane, Aylesham, on the afternoon of April 28, and took both dashcam footage and a clear photo of him.

The image shows Wheeler carrying a black-and-blue holdall, which the prosecution says contained a “metal bar covered at one end with the Tesco carrier bag”.

In the dashcam footage - which was played before the jury - Mr Tucker challenges Wheeler, asking “what are you up to?” before

Wheeler runs away towards Aylesham.

It was not the first time Mr Tucker had encountered him.

On September 21, 2020 - seven months before Julia’s death - he had come across Wheeler on his land and challenged him on two occasions.

Giving evidence to the court yesterday, he said: “The way he came across to me...I just didn’t like the way it was.”

He told how he found Wheeler’s behaviour on April 28 “suspicious”, and took a photo of him which he handed to police.

“There’s a suspicious fella and he’s running off, and there’s been a death down at Ackholt,” he told the operator, in a recording played to the court.

On May 7 last year, the photo Mr Tucker took was circulated by police as part of a press appeal, prompting further witnesses to come forward.

Addressing the jury, Ms Morgan said: "What was he doing running in and out of hedges, running away from Mr Tucker?"

She alleged that in the days after killing Julia, Wheeler "continued to tour around the local area, sometimes carrying his bag and sometimes carrying what the prosecution alleges to be the murder weapon".

"He kept a check on the police cordon, he ran away from police officers and concerned members of the public, such as Mr Tucker," she added.

The court heard Wheeler was arrested at his home on May 7, with the weapon in the corner of his bedroom.

Wheeler went on to deny the killing and asserted someone had "ratted on him", jurors were told.

Forensic evidence

Wheeler's DNA was soon discovered on Julia's blue coat, green boots, white vest, and on skin underneath an arm.

Julia's blood was found on both of Wheeler's trainers while the weapon, used to make adjustments to railway tracks, also contained his DNA.

Various areas of the 96cm metal bar, weighing 3kg, contained Julia's blood, as well as Wheeler's own DNA.

Ms Morgan told the jury he hit her with it in such a way that he intended to kill her.

"The key question for the offence of murder in this trial is whether or not when he attacked Julia James, the defendant intended to kill her or cause her at least really serious harm. The prosecution will invite you to conclude that it is clear and obvious that he did."

The trial continues.