THE head of the judicary in England and Wales said "too little weight" had been placed on the aggravting features in disgraced police officer Timothy Brehmer's manslaughter of Claire Parry when he was sentenced last year.
As reported, three Court of Appeal justices, led by Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, ruled that Brehmer’s custodial sentence for the manslaughter of his long-term lover should be extended.
Brehmer was jailed for 10 years and six months for loss of control manslaughter at Salisbury Crown Court in October last year after he was acquitted of murder.
The 41-year-old, of Hordle, New Forest, appealed to have his sentence reduced, however, the three senior judges sided with the application by the Attorney General for the prison term to be extended.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the original sentence should be quashed and replaced by one of 13 years and six months’ imprisonment.
Lord Burnett said sentencing judge Mr Justice Richard Jacobs gave “too little weight” to the aggravating factors in the case, which he had correctly identified.
“The extent of her injuries shows that she was under attack for some time and clearly a period which exceeded the 10 to 30 seconds or more that her neck was compressed,” said Lord Burnett. “She struggled in a fruitless attempt to protect herself and must have been aware of what was going to happen.
“The judge said that he ‘was sure that you did deliberately take Claire Parry by the neck applying significant force with your forearm or the crook of your elbow for a period of time whilst she struggled against you’.
“The offender’s conduct and lies after the attack were reprehensible and calculated to deflect attention from what he had done. These aggravating factors have the effect of moving above the starting point significantly before considering the mitigating factors.”
Lord Burnett said it had been concluded that the appropriate sentence before a reduction for Brehmer’s guilty plea to manslaughter at the plea and trial preparation hearing was 15 years’ imprisonment.
He added that Mr Justice Jacobs had given the defendant around a 15 per cent reduction for his plea of guilty, which was “excessive”.
Brehmer had pleaded on a “radically different factual and legal basis” from the one which he was appropriately sentenced on, Lord Burnet said.
The justices deemed 10 per cent discount was appropriate, which reduced the sentence to 13 years and six months.
As reported, Brehmer, who was a serving Dorset Police constable at the time, killed 41-year-old mother-of two Mrs Parry at the Horns Inn pub car park in West Parley in May last year.
This was after she revealed their long-running affair to his wife by sending a text message to her on his phone.
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