A policeman has been jailed for life after admitting the murder of his police constable fiancee.

Martin Forshaw, 27, of Meadow Way, Tottington, Bury, admitted killing 31-year-old Claire Howarth, on the day his trial was due to start at Manchester Crown Court.

He was ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars.

Claire was a serving Greater Manchester Police Constable on the Rochdale division at the time of her death, and Forshaw was a Cheshire Constabulary PC.

The couple had an argument at their home on Meadow Way in Tottington, Bury in the early hours of Thursday May 7, the day they were to fly to St Lucia for their wedding.

During the argument, Forshaw lost control and Claire was struck a number of times.

Forshaw then carried her downstairs and drove her along secluded country lanes towards Harwood.

The car stopped on Tottington Road and Forshaw got out. Through his barrister he told the court today he carried Claire⿿s unconscious body out of the car with intention of seeking help.

However, he did not seek help and realising that Claire was dying, he struck her two more times in the head with the hammer to "put her out of her pain".

Forshaw put her back into the car for a second time and drove a few hundreds metres down the road.

He then put Claire in the driver's seat and directed the car down the road until it collided with a bush in a bid to make it look as if she had crashed.

A post-mortem examination later concluded Claire died as a result of severe head trauma having been struck numerous times by a lump hammer.

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

"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, and 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.

"Claire suffered head horrific injuries and forensic analysis showed she was struck with brutal force.

"Forshaw admitted during his initial interview that he panicked and drove Claire to a secluded spot on Tottington Road in Bury, where he put her in the driver's seat and deliberately crashed the car. He then lied to the emergency services and tried to make it look like an accident.

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

Claire's mum Irene said: "The heart ache is still very raw and painful for myself and my family to come to terms with Claire's horrific and meaningless death.

"Claire has left a great void in all of our lives and our family and her friends are so proud of all she achieved.

"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 remains in our hearts forever.

"My thanks go to Mr Andy Tattershall, the Greater Manchester Police team and Miss Caroline Austin, our family liaison officer, for supporting me through the darkest time of my life."