A major murder trial following the killing of a Kent PCSO has started this morning.

Callum Wheeler, 22, stands accused of murdering mum-of-two Julia James while she walked her dog in the hamlet of Snowdown, between Canterbury and Dover, last April.

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Wheeler, of Sunshine Corner Avenue in Aylesham, entered a not guilty plea when he appeared in court in October.

His trial started at Canterbury Crown Court today, and is expected to last four weeks.

Julia, 53, was discovered dead on a footpath near Ackholt Wood about 400 metres from her home, on the afternoon of April 27 last year.

She had been working from home on the day of her death, but had taken her Jack Russell, Toby, on a walk through countryside behind where she lived.

Julia had been a police community support officer since 2008, and worked within the domestic violence unit at Canterbury police station.

A post-mortem investigation revealed she suffered "significant head injuries", sparking a widespread hunt for her killer.

Hundreds of police officers spent weeks scouring land surrounding the rural hamlet of Snowdown.

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