Ex-detective admits partner murder (From Western Telegraph)

Ex-detective admits partner murder

10:50am Tuesday 26th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A former police detective has admitted murdering his partner, a policewoman whose body was found in a shallow woodland grave.

Peter Foster had previously pleaded not guilty to killing Detective Constable Heather Cooper, 33, who was stabbed before her body was dumped in Blackdown Woods, near Lurgashall, West Sussex, in October last year.

But the 36-year-old former detective constable, who lived with the mother-of-two in Haslemere, Surrey, changed his plea to guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday.

Miss Cooper was killed at the couple's home while she was on maternity leave with her second child, who was born just weeks prior to her death.

A post-mortem examination carried out at the Royal Surrey County Hospital confirmed death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and a stab wound to the throat.

Miss Cooper, who grew up in York, joined Surrey Police in 2003 and worked in the Public Protection Investigation Unit based at Guildford.

During her career she received several letters of praise from senior officers for her work on various crimes and in 2009 was given a commendation by the force for her "professionalism, dedication and commitment".