Domestic violence campaigners have reacted angrily after a disgraced police officer was jailed for just 10 years for killing his lover.
On Tuesday, 27 October, Timothy Brehmer, 41, was acquitted of murdering Claire Parry, and on Wednesday he was jailed for 10 and a half years for manslaughter, an offence which he had admitted.
We know so many women serving life sentencing for murder after lashing out in fear of their abusers, yet this man who is described as using "grooming" techniques to exert "coercive and controlling behaviour" over women, escapes a murder convictionhttps://t.co/5cUJlgZcFc
— Centre for Women's Justice (@centreWJ) October 28, 2020
The 41-year-old nurse was strangled by Brehmer in the car park of the Horns Inn, on the outskirts of Bournemouth, after she texted his wife to tell her about their affair.
Brehmer insisted he had simply been trying to stop her getting out of the car and had not intended to kill her.
The jury at his trial at Salisbury Crown Court was told Brehmer was known as a "man whore" and a "sexual predator" among his colleagues and was known to prey on "vulnerable" emergency workers.
A kerfuffle is a completely inappropriate description for what happened. Claire Parry was killed and the perpetrator has admitted manslaughter. https://t.co/L2LxmgbPeO
— Women's Equality Party (@WEP_UK) October 27, 2020
The court heard Ms Parry became angry when she discovered he had multiple lovers. She took his mobile phone, trawled through the messages to other women and then texted his wife saying: “I am cheating on you.”
Brehmer claimed he strangled her by accident in a "kerfuffle" and said his arm "must have slipped in all the melee."
Brehmer also ran the defence of “loss of control”. This is a partial defence, which means it only applies to murder, and has the effect of reducing what would be murder to manslaughter.
— The Secret Barrister (@BarristerSecret) October 28, 2020
The defence is at s54 Coroners and Justice Act 2009: pic.twitter.com/mI6SqvTN4N
After the incident Brehmer, a constable who was seconded to the National Police Air Service, was taken to hospital for treatment to self-inflicted injuries.
Folks; The sentence of 10yrs 4 months given to Ex Dorset PC Timothy Brehmer are within the sentencing guidelines for Manslaughter; he was cleared of Murder; Guilty Plea no weapon & momentally loss of control; Our thoughts R with the victims husband family & his Dorset colleagues!
— Norman Brennan (@NormanBrennan) October 28, 2020
Sentencing him, Judge Mr Justice Jacobs said he believed Brehmer had lost his self-control and had not intended to kill or seriously harm his victim.
But domestic violence campaigners and women’s groups have reacted angrily to the outcome on social media and mocked his claims to have “strangled her by accident.”
Brehmer was sacked by Dorset Police following a misconduct hearing last month.
