The man who murdered PCSO Julia James will be sentenced next month.

Callum Wheeler, who was described as “a complete and utter loner”, beat Mrs James to death with a railway jack after "ambushing" her near her Kent home in April 2021.

The 22-year-old bludgeoned the mum-of-two to death while she walked her dog on a rural footpath near her home in the hamlet of Snowdown, between Canterbury and Dover, last April.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told Canterbury Crown Court last month the attack was planned.

She added Wheeler, who hardly knew his own brother, was "highly sexualised" and had "rape" on his mind at the time of killing the mother-of-two.

Wheeler prepared to kill a woman "over many days and weeks", she said, in an “ambush attack where the defendant intended to surprise his victim".

Wheeler denied murder but a jury unanimously found him guilty after he offered no evidence.

Wheeler, of Sunshine Corner Avenue in Aylesham, will be sentenced at the same court on July 8.

He will be jailed for life but the minimum term is to be determined.

At a pre-trial press briefing, police told the media they had not established a motive for the senseless murder.

Wheeler had lived with his father and one of his two brothers for about two years prior to the shocking crime.

He had previously lived in south-east London and his mother, who is separated from his father, still lives in the capital.

Police described Wheeler as "a complete and utter loner" with a history of mental illness, but were not able to establish a motive for Julia's murder.

Det Supt Moss said: "To be honest, I really don't know why he did it."

During the trial, the court heard there were “no signs of sustained or violent sexual assault” on the mother-of-two.

Julia had been walking her Jack Russell, Toby, in countryside near her home on the afternoon she died.

She had been to visit a spot in Ackholt Wood, known to her and her husband as the "butterfly place" due to its abundance of butterflies.

But as she turned back and headed home, she spotted Wheeler lurking in the woodland.

An Apple watch worn by Julia the afternoon she died revealed valuable information about the moments leading up to her death.

And Wheeler was spotted on numerous occasions roaming the Aylesham area carrying the murder weapon in the days before and after the killing.

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Investigators believe Wheeler was watching, as officers scoured the area for clues, following the death of one of their colleagues at his hands.

Following the jury's verdict, Julia's husband Paul James also paid tribute to Julia on the steps of the court.

"Julia was the funniest person I ever met. I can't explain how much I love her. You have to feel that - you can't explain it in words. She was just amazing- I'm so proud of her. I just hurt so much.

"She was so small but she was massive. She stood 10 foot tall."

He added: "She just helped everybody and she just couldn't do enough.