A 21-year-old man charged with the murder of the police community support officer Julia James has appeared before Maidstone crown court and was remanded in custody.
Callum Wheeler, from Aylesham, Kent, is accused of inflicting significant head injuries on James, 53, while she was out walking her dog.
James was found dead in Akholt Wood, close to her home in the hamlet of Snowdown, near Aylesham, with her jack russell, Tony, at her side, on 27 April.
Wheeler appeared via video link from Belmarsh prison for the short hearing. Wearing a light grey T-shirt, grey trousers and a face mask, he spoke only to confirm his name. No plea was entered and no application was made for bail.
The judge, Philip Statman, set a trial date of 29 November, with a plea and trial preparation hearing scheduled for 8 June. He said: “There being no application for bail, in the circumstances having looked at all the matters, it is right and proper the defendant should remain in custody.”
Kent police are still appealing for witnesses in the case, and this week created a reconstruction of James’s last known movements, featuring her dog and an actor wearing identical clothing to the PCSO.
