A detective has pleaded not guilty to forging a witness statement during a murder investigation.

Detective Constable Robert Ferrow, of Hampshire police, is accused of completing and signing the statement as part of the investigation into the death of mother-of-five Lucy-Anne Rushton in Andover in June 2019.

He appeared at Winchester Crown Court where he denied the offence of making a false instrument with intent for it to be accepted as genuine, under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

Judge Angela Morris adjourned the case for trial on August 9 and released Ferrow on unconditional bail until then.

She told the defendant: “Your trial is now fixed for August 9  at this court.

“You must attend your trial and be here in good time for it.”

A spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which investigated Ferrow said: “It is alleged DC Ferrow completed and signed the statement of a witness during the investigation into the murder of Lucy-Anne Rushton.

“Our investigation began in August 2019 and was completed in July 2020.

“At the investigation’s conclusion, we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which made the decision to charge the officer.”

Shaun Dyson, 28, was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 17 years at Winchester Crown Court for the murder of his estranged wife at the family house in Andover, Hampshire, while children were at the property.

Simon Jones, prosecuting, said that Dyson had become “enraged” by a phone call 30-year-old Ms Rushton received from a man she had been in a relationship with.