Claire Parry death: Dorset PC Timothy Brehmer was paid after guilty plea

Timothy Brehmer was dismissed by the Dorset force in September and placed on the national police barred list

A police officer who strangled his lover in a pub car park was paid by his employer for two months after he admitted the killing in court.

Timothy Brehmer killed nurse Claire Parry, 41, in May after she exposed their 10-year affair to his wife.

Dorset Police said misconduct proceedings were "fast-tracked" when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in July.

But rules meant the force continued to pay Brehmer, 41, until he was formally dismissed in September.

Claire Parry died in hospital after being strangled, Brehmer's trial heard

Brehmer, of Hordle, Hampshire, was cleared of murder at Salisbury Crown Court in October but was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for manslaughter.

The court heard he had been sacked by Dorset Police and placed on the national police barred list.

A one-page summary of his misconduct hearing on 16 September, released to the PA news agency after a Freedom of Information request, said there was "incontrovertible evidence" Brehmer committed gross misconduct.

No minutes were taken during the meeting, but Dorset Police confirmed Brehmer continued to be paid until he was sacked.

In a statement, the force said: "As set out by the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 and the Police Reform Act 2002, pay can only be stopped once an officer is formally dismissed.

"As soon as Timothy Brehmer entered his guilty plea at court, fast-track misconduct proceedings were commenced and a hearing was held at the first available opportunity, which resulted in him being dismissed as soon as was practical."

The trial heard Mrs Parry, who was from Bournemouth and married to another Dorset Police officer, met the defendant outside the Horns Inn, in West Parley, to confront him about another of his extra-marital affairs.

Brehmer said he had strangled her by accident during a "kerfuffle" in his car and that his arm "must have slipped in all the melee".

He lodged an application to challenge his sentence in November.

A bid to increase his "unduly lenient" sentence was also referred to the Court of Appeal by the solicitor general.