The daughter of a PCSO murdered in cold blood says women will now be safe from her killer after he was jailed for at least 37 years.

Bethan Coles was speaking after Callum Wheeler, 22, was given a life sentence today for bludgeoning much-loved Julia James to death in Snowdown, near Canterbury.

The judge told the "sick and twisted" killer he must serve 37 years before he will be considered for release.

It was a sentence welcomed by Julia's family, who addressed the media outside the court.

Bethan said: "We're pleased with 37 years, although clearly it'll never bring my mum back.

"What it does do is keep women safe from him and what he may do in the future. So we're just very grateful for all the hard work and dedication of all the police, [prosecutor] Alison Morgan, and everybody."

Her comments were echoed by Julia's son Patrick.

Fighting back tears, Julia's husband Paul James said: "Now that this guy can't hurt anyone else is a massive relief for us.

"If that was Julia's sacrifice, to save other people, then we're happy."

Asked how difficult the past 15 months have been, Mr James added: "It literally just ripped us all apart."

Det Supt Gavin Moss said: "Callum Wheeler has demonstrated that he is an incredibly dangerous individual, reflected by his actions, that he subjected my colleague Julia James to the most horrific of injuries.

"I am reassured, and so should the public be, that Callum Wheeler is now off the streets for a significant length of time.

"I'm immensely proud of the police officers and police staff from Kent Police, and indeed from further afield, who came to our assistance in order to bring Callum Wheeler to justice.

"I'm absolutely delighted for the family, who today have seen justice prevail."

Following a six-day trial in May, a jury took little more than an hour to convict Wheeler of murdering the much-loved mum-of-two on a remote footpath on April 27.

Today's sentence was delivered by Judge Mr Justice Mark Wall to a packed Canterbury Crown Court, where a handcuffed Wheeler had arrived in the dock, carried by security staff, at about 11.30am.

Flanked by five workers from psychiatric hospital HMP Broadmoor, he was to learn his fate about two hours later.

The judge told Wheeler: “Your victim was only 53 when she died. Your actions have also devastated the lives of the whole of her family. It was apparent how loved Julia was.

"You knew how quiet the area was and how easy it would be to attack someone there.

"You launched a brutal and vicious attack on her on the ground, hitting her numerous times to the back of the head with a heavy bar.

"The injuries were so widespread that the pathologist, when asked how many times you hit her, could only say 'not one or two but whether it was eight, nine or 16, I cannot say'.

"This attack was not a spur of the moment aberration by you; rather, it was an attack which was planned and thought through in advance."

The judge told Wheeler that although he is an inpatient at HMP Broadmoor, "there is no clear evidence of a direct link to your disorder and the offence".