Ex-cop 'bludgeoned fiancee to death'

Reuters

CLAIRE HOWARTH: The police constable was bludgeoned to death by her fiancee, who has been jailed for at least 18 years.

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A former British policeman has been jailed for life for bludgeoning his police constable fiancee to death with a lump hammer and trying to cover up her murder by staging a car crash.

Martin Forshaw, 27, admitted killing 31-year-old Claire Howarth just hours before they were due to fly out to the West Indian island of St Lucia to get married.

He pleaded guilty shortly before his trial was due to start at Manchester Crown Court and was told he would serve at least 18 years in jail.

Forshaw, who was a constable with Cheshire Police, argued with his fiancee at their home in Bury near Manchester on May 7, after telling her he wanted to call the wedding off.

During the argument, he lost control and struck Howarth, who worked for Greater Manchester Police.

He put her in their car and headed off along secluded country lanes. Through his lawyer at court, he said his intention had been to seek help for Howarth but realising she was dying, he struck her again to "put her out of her pain."

He then put her body into the driver's seat of the car and directed it down a hill until it crashed into a bush.

However a post mortem concluded that Howarth had died as a result of severe head trauma after being hit by a lump hammer.

"It was such a poor attempt to make it look like a crash that both the police and the ambulance service were immediately suspicious, and the severity of Claire's head injuries meant they could not have been caused by such a minor crash," said Andy Tattersall, the senior investigating officer.

"That caused us to question Forshaw's account and led us to unravelling this tragic sequence of events."

The court was told that Forshaw was torn between his emotions for his fiancee and another woman, the mother of his young son, the Press Association reported.

"Unfortunately, we can only speculate about what made Forshaw do what he did on that tragic evening," Tattersall said.

"On the one hand they were due to fly to the West Indies to get married, but it would also appear as if the couple were going through a trying and difficult time in their relationship.

"This pressure could have triggered Forshaw's violent episode but as the judge commented, he ferociously attacked Claire, cowardly drove away when he should have taken her to hospital and attacked her again."

Howarth's mother Irene said the family were still trying to come to terms with her daughter's "horrific and meaningless" death.

"We will never forget her wicked sense of humour, the compassion and courage she displayed in the police force along with the many happy memories of Claire's all too short life," she said.

"She remains in our hearts forever."