Married police officer 'strangled lover after 10-year affair'

Claire Parry died in hospital after being strangled, the court heard

A married police officer strangled his long-term lover to death after she considered revealing their affair to his wife, a court has heard.

Timothy Brehmer, a constable with Dorset Police, is accused of murdering nurse Claire Parry, 41, in a pub car park on 9 May.

He was a "womaniser" who had been seeing Mrs Parry for more than 10 years, Salisbury Crown Court was told.

Mr Brehmer, 41, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.

The first day of his trial was told Mrs Parry believed the relationships with her lover and her husband, also a Dorset Police officer, were both coming to an end in the days before her death.

Richard Smith QC, prosecuting, said she had become convinced Mr Brehmer, of Hordle in Hampshire, had had at least two other affairs.

A note addressed to Mr Brehmer's wife revealing the affair was found on her phone following her death, the prosecutor said.

PC Timothy Brehmer denies murdering his long-term lover

The note said: "Dear Martha, what I am going to say is likely to come as no surprise to you.

"I am figuring you have always suspected but tried to ignore, there is no easy way to say it but, put simply, your husband is a man whore.

"Myself and others have fallen victim to his words and charms, his promises of being in a loveless marriage to only staying for the sake of your children."

Mr Smith told the court Mr Brehmer met Mrs Parry in a car outside the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset, where, after an argument, he strangled her with such force that he broke a bone in her neck.

Mrs Parry, from Bournemouth, died in hospital the following day.

The prosecutor said the defendant admitted causing her death but claimed he was "simply robustly trying to get her out of the car".

The trial continues.

Police found Mrs Parry unconscious in a pub car park