A WOMANISING married police officer, who strangled his long-term lover after she revealed their affair to his wife, appeared before the Court of Appeal today.

Andover-raised police officer, Timothy Brehmer, killed mother-of-two Claire Parry after she sent a text message from his phone to his wife saying: “I am cheating on you.”

Mrs Parry, 41, died during a “kerfuffle” in his car in the car park of the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset, on May 9 last year.

Brehmer, of Hordle, Hampshire, claimed the married nurse accidentally suffered the fatal injury while he was trying to push her out of his Citroen car so he could drive away.

He was cleared of murder by a jury following a trial at Salisbury Crown Court but had previously admitted Mrs Parry’s manslaughter.

Brehmer, then 41, was jailed for 10 and a half years in October.

His sentence was been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Today three senior judges, including Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, heard from Timothy Cray QC, who was counsel for the Attorney General, and Jo Martin QC who appeared on behalf of Brehmer.

The court heard arguments for both extending and reducing the jail term handed to Brehmer.

Mr Cray QC told the court that the Mr Justice Jacobs correctly found Brehmer lost control but did not follow through with that fully when passing the sentence.

The barrister submitted that Brehmer was "highly culpable".

The offence was "very close to murder", said Mr Cray QC, adding that the sentence that had been given risked "lowering public confidence".

Ms Martin QC said that loss of control was "very much a footnote" during the murder trial. She told the court there were issues that were ignored by Mr Justice Jacobs as he finalised his judgement.

Brehmer's counsel said the Attorney General was suggesting a sentencing category that does not exist in relation to "loss of control" manslaughter.

Ms Martin QC said even if Brehmer had a momentary intention, he had no desire to hurt Claire Parry and his actions in the half hour after the incident were of a man in shock.

Details of the incident and victim impact statements were not covered during the hearing, but findings from the trial make up part of the papers being considered by the Court of Appeal judges.

Following a brief adjournment, the Lord Chief Justice thanked both Mr Cray QC and Ms Martin QC for their submissions before confirming that a judgement would be handed down at a later date.