Callum Wheeler, 22, was convicted of her murder at Canterbury Crown Court in May, with the jury taking just over an hour to reach the verdict.

Ms James was off duty on the afternoon of 27 April last year when she was killed by Wheeler, who attacked her with a railway jack, a tool used to lift train tracks, resulting in "catastrophic injuries".

The incident happened as she walked her dog in fields and woodland near the back of her home in Snowdown, Kent.

Her husband, Paul James, broke down while speaking outside of court.

He said he was "massively relieved" that Wheeler would be behind bars for such a long time and not able to harm any other women.

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

Mr James also gave an impact statement inside the court, saying: "My life was finally complete when I married my soulmate."

When his wife was murdered, "my hopes and dreams were taken", he said. "I actually felt I died too."

Ms James' daughter, Bethan Coles, said the family "will live with this every day" and that it is a "life sentence" for them.

Wheeler had no connection to Ms James, 53, who had two children, and offered no explanation for beating her to death when questioned by the police.

Ms James had herself seen Wheeler three times in Ackholt Wood in the months before her death.

He was seen roaming around the countryside by witnesses with the weapon the day before he murdered Ms James.

Alison Morgan QC, for the prosecution, said Ms James was subjected to a "brutal and fatal attack" as she fell to the ground while fleeing her attacker, adding: "This was a murder involving sexual conduct."

Wheeler told officers "sometimes I do things that I cannot control" and "you can't go into the woods and expect to be safe".

Ms Morgan added that the murderer was "lying in wait in bushes" for "highly respected" Ms James, who made a "desperate attempt to run away".

He told a member of police staff that he would return to the woodland and rape and kill a woman, and that Mrs James had deserved to die.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 37 years by Mr Justice Wall, who told him: "The attack you launched on her was brutal and vicious."

The judge said: "It was an attack which in combination with other similar offences reported in the press in the recent past has caused understandable fear and concern among members of the public who may find themselves in a similar vulnerable position to that which Mrs James found herself that day."