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PC Neil Doyle killing: Two men guilty of manslaughter | PC Neil Doyle killing: Two men guilty of manslaughter |
(35 minutes later) | |
Two men have been found guilty of killing an off-duty policeman in an attack during a night out in Liverpool. | Two men have been found guilty of killing an off-duty policeman in an attack during a night out in Liverpool. |
PC Neil Doyle, 36, died after he was struck with a "pile driver" punch in the early hours of 19 December last year. | PC Neil Doyle, 36, died after he was struck with a "pile driver" punch in the early hours of 19 December last year. |
Andrew Taylor, 29, and Timmy Donovan, 30, of Huyton were convicted of manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court. | Andrew Taylor, 29, and Timmy Donovan, 30, of Huyton were convicted of manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court. |
A third man, Christopher Spendlove, was cleared of manslaughter. | A third man, Christopher Spendlove, was cleared of manslaughter. |
All three were cleared of murder after a five-week trial. | |
PC Doyle had been out drinking with fellow Merseyside officers Michael Steventon and Robert Marshall when the two groups of men met in the city's Seel Street just before 03:00. | PC Doyle had been out drinking with fellow Merseyside officers Michael Steventon and Robert Marshall when the two groups of men met in the city's Seel Street just before 03:00. |
Prosecutors said the defendants were "determined to get into involved in a physical confrontation". | Prosecutors said the defendants were "determined to get into involved in a physical confrontation". |
Taylor and Donovan were both found guilty of wounding with intent for an attack on PC Marshall. | Taylor and Donovan were both found guilty of wounding with intent for an attack on PC Marshall. |
Taylor was also convicted of GBH in relation to an attack on PC Steventon. | Taylor was also convicted of GBH in relation to an attack on PC Steventon. |
Mr Spendlove was cleared of all charges. | Mr Spendlove was cleared of all charges. |
During the trial, jurors heard the punch that struck PC Doyle left him staggering across the road before ending up in a gutter. | |
He died after suffering an injury to an artery in his neck, which led to bleeding over the surface of the brain. | He died after suffering an injury to an artery in his neck, which led to bleeding over the surface of the brain. |
It was the same injury that killed Australian cricketer Philip Hughes, the trial heard. | It was the same injury that killed Australian cricketer Philip Hughes, the trial heard. |
The two groups of men - who were not known to each other - presented very different versions of events during the trial. | |
At one stage, the officers were accused of maintaining a "conspiracy of silence", with barristers suggesting everyone involved had "piled in". | |
But PC Steventon denied this, and said the officers were made to feel "intimidated" after PC Doyle was "goaded" with the words "evening officer". | |
Taylor, a former professional footballer who earns £40,000 per year as a football agent, claimed the words were used as "a term of endearment". | |
He said PC Doyle became annoyed and had to be physically restrained. | |
Initially, Taylor told officers he had struck PC Doyle in self defence, but later denied it and said he had been mistaken. | |
However, he admitted hitting PC Doyle's two colleagues. | |
Donovan, who was extradited from Germany following the death, also denied punching PC Doyle, but admitted hitting the other two officers after it "all broke out very quick". | |
He accepted that he struck PC Marshall with "excessive force" before going back and stamping on him. | |
But he claimed it was Taylor who had "knocked out" PC Doyle. | |
Spendlove, a former football coach in the US, claimed he had been an innocent bystander and had not joined in the fighting. | |
Taylor and Donovan will be sentenced in September. |