Officer’s partner is jailed for killing her

THE PARTNER of a police officer has been jailed for six years after he strangled her at their home two days before Christmas and told police he was angry she had “ruined” the occasion.

Edward Scott “lost his temper” after finding his long- term partner, Carole Forth, heavily intoxicated at the home they shared in Hull in December 2018.

Ms Forth, 56, described by devastated family members as “intelligent, funny and optimistic”, had a history of issues with alcohol and her mental health. She had worked as a Police Community Support Officer with Humberside Police for 12 years.

Emergency services were called to the couple’s house on December 23 after Scott, 63, contacted them to say he had found Ms Forth drunk and unresponsive. She was cold and had no pulse, with paramedics pronouncing her dead at the scene.

The following day, Scott told police his partner of more than 25 years had finished a bottle of wine and that he had “reached breaking point”, angry that she had – in his words – “ruined Christmas”.

A post- mortem examination found Ms Forth had injuries to her neck consistent with asphyxiation. The forensic pathologist found a concentration of 338mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which was nearly five times the drink driving limit and more than the 300mg- level associated with fatal alcohol poisoning.

Scott, of Woodhall Road, Hull, was originally charged in Au

gust last year with murdering Ms Forth but pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Sheffield Crown Court on April 25 – a plea which the court accepted.

Defence barrister Richard Wright QC, in mitigation, said Scott “in no way” sought to blame Ms Forth for what happened or to attribute any part of her cause of death to her.

Sentencing him yesterday, His Honour Judge Roger Thomas QC described the crime committed as “a fatal attack of a woman in her own home”. He said that the violence had been “upon a woman who was defenceless, given the nature of her intoxication”.