Three men will go on trial today accused of murdering a policeman on a Christmas night out.
Pc Neil Doyle, 36, died after an alleged assault in Liverpool city centre while off-duty with colleagues in the early hours of December 19 last year.
Christopher Spendlove, 30, Andrew Taylor, 28, and Timmy Donovan, 30, all from Merseyside, deny murder.
Two other off-duty officers, Michael Steventon and Robert Marshall, were also injured in the attack in Colquitt Street at around 3.15am. All served with Merseyside Police.
Pc Doyle, who was based at Eaton Road station in West Derby, Liverpool, was laid to rest in January following a service at St Nicholas’s Church in Liverpool city centre.
It was at the same church last summer that the popular Pc wed his partner of 15 years, Sarah, who he lived with in Liverpool.
They were supposed to go on honeymoon in January.
The trial at Liverpool Crown Court is expected to last up to four weeks.