Hundreds of officers outside the church where a funeral was being held for a policeman killed along with his partner in an ambush shooting turned their backs on New York’s mayor as he spoke during the service.

The gunman who murdered two New York City police officers in their squad car had a long criminal record, a hatred of police and the government and an apparent history of mental instability that included a suicide attempt a year ago, it has emerged.

The most high profile rebranding of a US sports team of the past decade needs all the help it can get and the Brooklyn Nets ticked two important boxes this week: they beat the New York Knicks on Monday night and got into a fight in Boston on Wednesday.

Police spent months searching for a wanted gunman only to discover he was the mystery half-brother of their precinct commander, it emerged today.