Married 'man w**re' police officer, 41, accused of strangling lover in car told detectives he used 'secret chat' app Telegram to message her because he is a 'devious b*****d', murder trial hears

A married police officer on trial for allegedly murdering his secret lover told investigators he used a hidden app on his phone to send her messages because he was 'a devious b*****d', a court today heard 

Dorset Police officer Timothy Brehmer told officers that he used messaging app 'Telegram' to communicate with Claire Parry, with whom he had a 10-year affair, jury members were told.

Jurors also heard that Brehmer named the nurse 'Eric' on his phone and only kept her number hidden in the bottom of a note.

The married mother-of-two, 41, was found unconscious in a pub car park in May and died a day later in hospital. A post mortem examination showed Mrs Parry died from a brain injury caused by compression of the neck.

PC Brehmer, 41, is on trial at Salisbury Crown Court, Wilts, accused of murdering Ms Parry, which he denies.

Today jury members in the trial were shown Brehmer's police interview after his arrest, in which he told investigators: 'We used to use WhatsApp but we changed to Telegram, it was hidden right at the back of my phone in the rubbish folder because I'm a devious bastard.

'I put her number hidden in the bottom of a note so I could dial it.

'She was in as Eric just because it was not her name. I didn't use it for anything else.

Dorset Police officer Timothy Brehmer told a court that he used messaging app 'Telegram' to communicate with Claire Parry - with whom he had a 10-year affair

The married mother-of-two was found unconscious in a pub car park in May and later died in hospital. A post mortem examination showed Mrs Parry died from a brain injury caused by compression of the neck

'One of the things was called a 'secret chat' on there, they expired after a while.

'It was always a secret app... it was Claire that found it and suggested we use it.'

In the police interview, which was show to jurors in the trial, Brehmer also said 'clearly I'm just a fucking deviant' and said his affair with Mrs Parry offered 'solace and excitement'.

The Dorset Police officer is accused of 'angrily and deliberately' strangling Mrs Parry in the car park of the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset after she threatened to reveal their decade-long affair to his detective wife, DC Martha Brehmer. 

In his police interview 48 hours after Mrs Parry's death, Brehmer was told a post-mortem investigation revealed she suffered a devastating neck compression and a broken bone in the neck.

It was put to Brehmer by detectives that he killed Mrs Parry then wiped his phone clean and stabbed himself in the arm, but he denied the claims.

Instead, he argues he wiped his phone and injured himself during their argument in the car, before the struggle ensued.

He said: 'I don't want it to be misconstrued that I killed her then deleted stuff on my phone and then sat there having a fag for 15 minutes or however long it was and then went to get help like some kind of cold-hearted b*****d.

'That's abhorrent.'

The Dorset Police officer is accused of 'angrily and deliberately' strangling Mrs Parry in the car park of the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset. Pictured: The car in which the argument is alleged to have taken place

The court had previously heard Brehmer was a 'womaniser who was described as a 'man w***e' by Mrs Parry in messages before her death - because he 'seduced other women in the emergency services.'

Jurors had previously heard the pair had argued in his Citroen C1 in the lead up to her death.

Referring to a row Brehmer said: 'She was so focused on being angry and it wasn't making sense, she wanted to know about my perfect life and that was always the unspoken rule we had, we had been seeing each other for 11 years.

'We didn't talk about our respective partners... It was never intimately spoken about. There was a line between having an affair and your normal relationship.'

Brehmer said Mrs Parry demanded he hand over his phone to look through social media and messages to his wife so she could learn about 'his perfect life'. 

The officer said in the days before Mrs Parry sent him 'hundreds' of messages and became worried she would tell his wife if he didn't reply.

He claimed he wanted to end his relationship with wife by telling her himself. 

Brehmer added: 'It was damage limitation for my family. I never intended to hurt her, not one bit. I'm sure I have hurt her emotionally over the years but I'm not a bad man.

'I remember thinking 'there's nothing left, it's all gone. I'm not going to get the opportunity to tell her '.

'I thought it would be much easier for Martha if I didn't come home.' 

Brehmer said he stabbed himself three times and Mrs Parry 'didn't bat an eyelid'.

He said it was a 'desperate attempt to get her out the car, adding: 'It was not rage and I didn't forget what I was doing and lose myself in the moment. I just wanted her to get out of the car so I could go and kill myself.  

The car in the trial was brought to Salisbury Crown Court today as jurors continued to listen to evidence in the trial

'I've got nothing to hide at all. I've never intended in any way shape or form to hurt her, not one bit. The only person I should have hurt yesterday was myself,' he added.

Brehmer explained he tried to 'shove' her out of the car but 'couldn't get any purchase on her' during the struggle because his bleeding arm made 'it all so slippy'.

Brehmer - who also claimed 'fit and strong girl' Mrs Parry could 'probably bench press more than me' - said at one stage his arm 'was underneath her' while he was partially on top of her but wasn't pushing down on her. 

He said: 'I tried to pull her out but she's quite strong, she leaned back in the car, lying across the gearstick. I pulled her legs but didn't have the strength to pull her out.

'I piled into the passenger side to try to move her and push her, she turned away on her tummy.

'I managed to move her, I was lying across on her... I was trying so hard to pull her out the car.

'I don't know how long that went on for, she was trying to stay in the car.

'I managed to roll out of the door... I didn't look at her but she was not moving. I didn't really notice her at the time, I didn't see anything, I didn't mean to hurt her but I obviously have.

'I was bleeding so much, I was scared and it was like self-preservation, so I ran to the road and there were people on bikes, I was just saying 'please help me, please help me'.'

He added: 'I can only think that she suffocated and I'm so sorry and it's clearly my fault and I'm going to go to jail for a very long time.

'I'm a bad person because I had an affair but I'm not a bad person.'

Brehmer suggested Mrs Parry died as a result of 'positional asphyxia' due to her diaphragm being on the driver's seat and her head being out of the car.

He added: 'I'm appalled... clearly I'm the one sitting here and she's not sitting here so the only person to blame is me.

'I never ever, for one nanosecond, intended to hurt her. I didn't strangle her, I didn't put my fingers around her throat or anything like that.'

Brehmer was seconded to the National Police Air Service and lived with his wife, and their nine year old son in Hordle, Hants.

Mrs Parry, who had an eight year old girl and a six year old boy with her husband, Dorset Police officer Andrew Parry, was a nurse practitioner at a medical centre in their home town of Bournemouth, Dorset. 

Brehmer admits manslaughter but denies murder. The trial continues.