MANCHESTER, England, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A British police officer pleaded guilty Monday to bludgeoning his fiancee and driving her car into a tree to make it look like an accident, authorities said.
Martin Forshaw, 27, of Tottington, Bury, pleaded guilty to murder the day his trial was to begin in Manchester Crown Court for the death of Claire Howarth, 31, The Times of London reported.
Forshaw and Howarth both served as police officers with the Cheshire Constabulary.
Prosecutors said Forshaw bludgeoned Howarth with a hammer during an argument May 7 and then drove her BMW into a tree near Bolton to make it look like an accident. Police immediately were suspicious that such a mild impact had caused extensive head injuries, prosecutors said.
Howarth was a good officer who last year received praise from a local mother for helping her 12-year-old daughter deal with school bullies, Howarth's police superiors said.
"We feel privileged to have people like her out there looking after us," the mother's letter to police said.
