A police officer accused of murdering his lover in a pub car park told officers investigating the incident “the only person to blame is me” and that he was “appalled she’s not here anymore”, a court heard.

Timothy Brehmer is accused of murdering nurse Claire Parry at the Horns Inn pub car park in West Parley on May 9, a charge he denies.

Mrs Parry died of a brain injury due to compression to the neck after a dispute between the pair. Brehmer admits manslaughter.

And the defendant’s second police interview which took place on May 11 was read to Salisbury Crown Court on October 19, as the trial entered its second week.

Brehmer told DC Andrew Burley: “I am appalled by the fact I’m the one sitting here and she’s not here at all anymore and the only person to blame is me. I did not strangle her, I did not put my fingers around her throat, my arm was underneath her.

“I just wanted her out my car and I will admit there was a struggle for sure.”

Daily Echo:

Brehmer claims he accidentally killed Mrs Parry while trying to push her out the driver’s door of the car so he could kill himself. He said she had texted his wife about the affair they’d been having “on and off” for more than a decade.

He said his forearm was underneath her neck from his thumb to the crook of his elbow and he was on top of her trying to push her out. The defendant described the incident as “positional asphyxia”, with Mrs Parry’s diaphragm on the seat of the car and her upper body and head face-down out the car.

He continued: “Maybe her position out the car and the way her head was and my arm underneath, and there was force because I was trying to get her out, I didn’t strangle her with my hands, there’s no way, there’s absolutely no way.

“My arm is there and I’m on top of her and I’m trying everything to get her out the car. I never realised she was in pain. She was struggling, we were both struggling.

“I appreciate where the cars were parked, that’s not ideal. There must be some CCTV that showed what happened because that will show it all.

“I need to know, are you happy with what I’ve said about the sequence of events? I don’t want it to be misconstrued that I killed her then sat there having a fag or whatever then got help.”

In his first police interview, Brehmer described himself as a “******* deviant” for having an affair. He said he loved his wife but Mrs Parry “offered the excitement, all the good stuff and not the bad stuff of relationships”.

“I didn’t murder, I didn’t. That wasn’t in a heartbeat anywhere near where I was, I just wanted to get away,” he added.

DS Richard Winn, who coordinated the investigation, was called as a witness. He confirmed Brehmer had attended a training course as part of his job which looked at positional asphyxia.

He said there was a fingerprint of Mrs Parry’s pointing down on the sill of the driver’s door.

Brehmer denies murder, the trial continues.