Claire Parry death: PC Timothy Brehmer to have sentence reviewed

A police officer who strangled a mother-of-two after she exposed their affair will have his 10-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter reviewed.

Timothy Brehmer killed nurse Claire Parry, 41, in a pub car park in Dorset on 9 May. The two had been in a secret relationship for more than 10 years.

Brehmer, who admitted manslaughter, was cleared of murder last week at the end of his trial at Salisbury Crown Court.

A complaint was made that his sentence was "unduly lenient".

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office could not disclose who made the request but said a decision on whether to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal would be made within four weeks.

The unduly lenient sentence scheme allows people to ask law officers to review sentences for certain crimes.

Brehmer was told by the judge he would serve two-thirds of his sentence in jail and the rest on licence.

The trial heard Mrs Parry, who was 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.

Mrs Parry took hold of his phone before sending a text to his wife, saying: "I am cheating on you."

Brehmer, of Hordle, Hampshire, said he had strangled Mrs Parry by accident during a "kerfuffle" in his car and that his arm "must have slipped in all the melee".

Mrs Parry's husband, Andrew, said he was "incredibly disappointed" with the verdict and branded Brehmer a "well-practised liar".

Mr Parry previously told the court Brehmer was the "worst kind of thief" and described the pain of telling their children that their mother was dead.

Dorset Police said Brehmer was sacked at a misconduct meeting held on 16 September. He was also placed on the national police barred list.