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A police officer who was caught on body camera footage in tears telling officers he "f**ked up" after strangling his lover to death in a pub car park has been cleared of murder.

Dorset Police officer Timothy Brehmer, 41, has been found not guilty of murdering his long-term lover Claire Parry by a jury at Salisbury Crown Court.

He had previously admitted Mrs Parry’s manslaughter.

Addressing the jury before they retired, he had said: "I'm responsible for her death. I must have [used too much force].

"I absolutely did not want to kill her or cause serious bodily harm. I didn't intend to kill her."

The court heard that the affair between the serving officer and A&E nurse Mrs Parry started after they met through work in 2006 – the same year Brehmer married his wife, DC Martha Brehmer.

They didn't start a relationship until years later, with Brehmer, dressed in a blue shirt with blue trousers and glasses, telling jurors it was "compartmentalised".

Describing the affair, Mr Brehmer said: "We didn't have to worry about the domestic things at home, you could be all of your good things, not your bad things, none of your vulnerabilities.

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  Married police officer admits killing NHS nurse lover of 10 years in pub car park

"It was a suspended state of your best self. It was an affair, that's what you have an affair for."

He added: "It wasn't sexual initially. It was sexually flirtatious, predominantly by text and infrequently but it developed.

"I didn't tell her I was married and similarly she didn't tell me she was married.

"The relationship was very compartmentalised, we didn't talk about our family or family units because we both loved them separately.

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  Married policeman charged with murder of 'lover' after she's found dead in car park

"She was very proud of her family and I was very proud of mine."

The jury at Salisbury Crown Court took two hours and 50 minutes to find Timothy Brehmer not guilty of Claire Parry's murder in a unanimous verdict.

Trial judge Mr Justice Jacobs said he would sentence Brehmer at 2.30pm for Mrs Parry's manslaughter, which he had previously admitted.

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