Gunmen have killed a policeman guarding the house of a judge in the city of Mansoura.

Sergeant Abdallah Metwally was shot to death as he was riding his motorcycle in a Mansoura neighborhood on Friday.

The judge, whose name was not mentioned in the report, is working on the case of ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, whose jailbreak trial was postponed on February 24.

Brigadier General el-Saeed Omara said the gunmen who opened fire on Metwally were also riding a motorbike.

The former Egyptian president, along with 130 other defendants, has been charged with organizing jailbreaks and attacks on police stations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution against former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The killing of the police officer took place ahead of an appeal court on Saturday, which is expected to look into a defense request to select a new panel of judges in the jailbreak trial.

Lawyers representing Morsi and those charged say they are requesting the new panel of judges because the defendants have to remain in a soundproof glass structure during court sessions. They also say private conversations between the defendants and their attorneys have been recorded.

Attacks on soldiers and police officers have escalated since the ouster of Morsi on July 3, 2013.

The rising number of attacks against police also coincides with the endorsement of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, head of the Egyptian armed forces, to run for presidency.