Julia James murder: Help us find ‘monster’ who killed PCSO, uncle pleads

Public appeal posted on social media as police investigation continues

The uncle of murdered police community support officer Julia James has appealed for help catch the "monster" who killed her as she walked her dog.

Michael Turnbull described his niece as "funny, kind, caring... and most of all full of love" as he issued an appeal on behalf of the family on Facebook.

"Julia has been taken from us by some worthless cowardly excuse for a human being for no other reason than his own sense of self gratification to justify what he did, leaving behind a family full of broken hearts and sadness," he wrote.

"Please share this and let us find this monster before he can cause more grief to another family."

Ms James, 53, was found dead with serious head injuries in Akholt Wood near her home in the Kent village of Snowdown on Tuesday.

Detectives said they are considering “all possible motives” and have not ruled out that Ms James was killed by a stranger, someone she had come across through her work tackling domestic violence or as part of a sexual assault.

A postmortem found the cause of death was blunt force trauma but detectives have refused to comment on the potential murder weapon.

This weekend officers continued to search the woods where Ms James was found as mourners left floral tributes to Ms James in a park in nearby Aylesham village.

Kent Police tweeted on Sunday: “We advise people in the area to remain vigilant until the full circumstances of the death are established.”

Police officers view floral tributes for murdered PCSO Julia James in Aylesham (Getty Images)

Mr Turnbull said in his Facebook post that he had "loved Julia since the day she was born". He added: “Julia is a daughter to my lovely sister, a mother to two children Bethan and Patrick and grandmother to Jaxxon.”

Dozens of people have since posted their messages of condolence on his page and paid tribute to Ms James. One wrote: "She was such a happy person who always had a smile on her face - she was a lovely lady."