An off-duty police officer has died after he and two colleagues were assaulted in Liverpool city centre.
PC Neil Doyle, 36, was taken to hospital following the attack near the Aloha club in Colquitt Street, in the early hours. He died shortly after.
Two other off-duty officers were also attacked and have been treated in hospital for facial injuries.
PC Doyle worked at the Eaton Road police station in West Derby. Police are treating the attack as murder.
'Good cop'
A police spokesman said both of the injured officers had been discharged from hospital, where one had been treated for a fractured cheekbone and the other "a less serious facial injury".
Merseyside Police Federation chairman Peter Singleton said PC Doyle was "a good cop that any officer would be proud to call a colleague".
"Neil was the kind of officer the police service is built on. This is devastating news."
The area around where the three men were attacked has been cordoned off while a forensic investigation takes place.
A post-mortem examination to establish the cause of PC Doyle's death will be carried out later.
