A police officer murdered his lover by strangling her in a pub car park moments after she revealed their 10-year affair by sending a text from his phone to his wife, a jury has been told. PC Timothy Brehmer, 41, is accused of 'angrily and deliberately' throttling Claire Parry, also 41, with such force that he broke a bone in her neck.
Brehmer, a constable with Dorset Police, admits causing Parry's death but denies murder, claiming he was 'robustly' trying to get her out of his car. Richard Smith QC, prosecuting, told Salisbury Crown Court that in the days before her death in May, Parry came to believe that both her own marriage to another police officer and her relationship with Brehmer were coming to an end.
The barrister said Parry had carried out research into Brehmer using a fake Facebook profile and become convinced he had had at least two other affairs. An unsent note found on Parry's phone, addressed to Brehmer's wife Martha, a police detective, described Brehmer as a 'man whore' who had 'sucked me in years ago'.
On 9 May, Brehmer met Parry in a car outside the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset, where, after an argument, he strangled her. Minutes before the incident, Parry sent a text saying 'I'm cheating on you' from Brehmer's phone to his wife. Brehmer allegedly took a penknife to his arm and cut himself, later telling a passerby: 'I'm never going to see my son again, I'm going to prison for a very long time.'
Parry, a nurse practitioner from Bournemouth, was taken to Royal Bournemouth Hospital but died the following day. The trial continues.
