Neil Doyle death: Officers 'intimidated' before attack

PC Neil Doyle had worked for the police for 10 years

A colleague of a police officer who was killed on a night out has told a court they felt "intimidated" moments before the confrontation.

PC Neil Doyle, 36, died following an attack in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of 19 December last year.

Andrew Taylor, 29, Christopher Spendlove, 30, and Timmy Donovan, 30, are on trial for murder at Liverpool Crown Court.

The three men also deny wounding with intent and causing grievous body harm.

Police officer Michael Steventon, who was attacked alongside PC Doyle, said Mr Taylor had approached their group and repeatedly addressed PC Doyle as "officer".

He said Mr Taylor, a football agent and former Forest Green Rovers player, had made him feel "unsettled" believing the defendant had "an issue".

The court heard the disturbance broke out after the two groups met in the city's Seel Street just before 03:00 BST.

The court has heard the two groups of men met by "complete coincidence" on Liverpool's Seel Street

Mr Steventon said: "Mr Taylor arrived and immediately addressed Neil Doyle and asked him if he was having a good evening.

"He finished the sentence with the word 'officer', 'are you having a good evening officer'. It was directed at Neil Doyle. He kept repeating things to that effect.

"As you can probably imagine it's a bit unsettling when someone approaches you when off-duty and identifies one of you as a police officer but at the same time, I thought it would be a throwaway thing, that would just go away."

He added that Mr Taylor was "very persistent".

"It was a bit intimidating. It wasn't in a friendly way it was in an intimidating manner.

'Ultra aggressive'

Mr Steventon said he did not believe PC Doyle had known the defendant.

The court earlier heard Mr Taylor walked into a police station after seeing media reports detailing the death of PC Doyle.

The officer died after suffering an injury to an artery in his neck, which led to bleeding over the surface of the brain.

In a police interview the following day, Mr Taylor told officers that PC Doyle had been "ultra aggressive" and "intimidating" towards him after the two groups met after leaving separate bars.

He admitted striking the officer in self defence in his initial interview, but later denied it, saying that he had been mistaken.

Nicholas Johnson QC, prosecuting, said: "It appears to be the present position of all the defendants that none of them admit striking Neil Doyle."

The trial continues.