Man accused of murdering Gda Colm Horkan ‘filled with burning anger’ towards gardaí

Stephen Silver, who denies murdering Gda Colm Horkan, was “filled with a burning anger” towards gardaí and “chance presented him with an opportunity” to vent that anger when he met and shot the detective, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

James Dwyer SC, for the prosecution, delivered his closing speech to the jury of seven men and five women on Tuesday, telling them that Mr Silver’s defence will say that the accused’s responsibility for the killing is diminished by his mental disorder. Mr Dwyer suggested that there was no evidence of how his mental disorder had caused him to act in the way he did or how it would diminish his responsibility “other than Mr Silver’s repeated mantra of, ‘I wasn’t well’.” Mr Dwyer continued: “Isn’t there a more simple and common sense explanation? He wasn’t unwell, he was very, very angry.”

Mr Dwyer said the evidence proves beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Silver intended to kill Gda Horkan when he shot him eleven times and that he knew the victim was a member of An Garda Siochana acting in accordance with his duty. He said Mr Silver was at the time angry with gardaí, his actions were purposeful and deliberate and his mental capacity was “not impaired by mental illness in any significant way”.

“Therefore he is guilty of the crime as alleged,” he said. In his garda interviews Mr Silver told gardaí that he had a “shitload of complaints” against gardaí and that he had been “battoned” previously by police for no reason.

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Mr Silver also told gardaí: “The only thing is, don’t rattle me. People know me that way,” and warned that people should not “keep poking me”. Mr Dwyer said: “This is the state of mind of Stephen Silver when he crossed paths with Gda Horkan and when, on his own account, he got the gun and kept shooting until it was empty, when he murdered Gda Horkan knowing full well he was a member of An Garda Siochana.”

Mr Silver accepts he shot and killed Gda Horkan but Dr Brenda Wright, a psychiatrist called by his defence, said that the accused was suffering at the time from bipolar affective disorder, a mental illness that diminished his responsibility. Professor Harry Kennedy, who was called by the prosecution, disagreed with Dr Wright and said that Mr Silver’s mental capacity was intact at the time of the killing.

Mr Silver (46), a motorbike mechanic from Aughaward, Foxford, Co Mayo has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Det Garda Horkan knowing or being reckless as to whether he was a member of An Garda Siochana acting in accordance with his duty. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, at Castlerea, Co Roscommon on June 17th, 2020.

Mr Dwyer said that earlier that day Mr Silver had seen a video of a raid by armed gardaí on the home of an old friend, James Coyne. This prompted him to visit Mr Coyne, counsel said, and the two men talked about the raid. Mr Silver then went to Castlerea Garda station where he “ranted” at gardaí about the raid on Mr Coyne’s home and later that night, after driving a motorbike at speed through Mr Coyne’s housing estate without a light or helmet, Mr Silver was heard to say: “I dare the armed squad come down here now.”

In his evidence in the trial, Mr Silver said that the “last thing I wanted was any hassle from the guards” but Mr Dwyer said it is “clear Mr Silver was full of rage towards An Garda Siochana” and was “itching for a confrontation”. Mr Dwyer said that Mr Silver and Mr Coyne then walked towards the centre of Castlerea where Gda Horkan pulled up behind them in his unmarked patrol car. He said that we don’t know why Gda Horkan got out of his patrol car and told Mr Silver that he was going to arrest him but he reminded the jury that Mr Silver had denied spitting at Gda Horkan.

Mr Dwyer said the account Mr Silver gave of grappling with Gda Horkan and the subsequent shooting had changed over time and his initial accounts were “in sharp contrast” to what he said in evidence during the trial.

“Perhaps two years later his memory had suddenly improved or perhaps this was a work of fiction designed to fit into his defence and the other evidence,” he said. Mr Dwyer said the accused first told gardaí at the scene that Gda Horkan was not a garda. He later told gardaí that Gda Horkan had said he was a garda but Mr Silver did not believe him because he was not in uniform and was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger jacket. He later said that he thought Gda Horkan may have been a drug dealer.

He had also given various accounts of how Gda Horkan suffered his injuries, including saying that Gda Horkan shot himself and claiming that Gda Horkan had tried to shoot him, counsel said. By the time he gave evidence, “the being shot at by Gda Horkan is gone,” counsel said, “and suddenly a version of events emerges that fits in with the evidence.” In his direct evidence Mr Silver said Gda Horkan grabbed him by the hands and they grappled, Mr Silver fell to his knees and as he tried to pull himself back up, he felt the holster and gun on Gda Horkan’s hip. He said he was frightened, pulled his hand away and then saw Gda Horkan’s hand on the gun. They struggled over it and Mr Silver said he got hold of the gun with Gda Horkan’s hand over his own. Mr Silver said he pulled the trigger and nothing happened so he pulled it again and heard a “pop” noise that frightened him. He said that Gda Horkan then twice pulled the trigger before “losing power”.

Mr Silver said he got the gun and described striking Gda Horkan with the butt of the gun before taking the gun with both hands and firing at Gda Horkan eleven times. Mr Dwyer pointed out that in his garda interviews Mr Silver had said they grappled over the gun and “it went off and kept going off”. He later said, “I took the firearm off him and threw it away”. He also told gardaí: “I touched his firearm while he tried to shoot me with it and shot himself.” He later said: “I barely touched this gun.”

Mr Dwyer said that Mr Silver had given “shifting accounts” of what happened and added that it was “clear from the outset that Mr Silver was building defences, but these defences kept changing.” He said the first defence Mr Silver “manufactured” was that he didn’t know Gda Horkan was a garda, the second was that he was acting in self defence. In his interviews with gardaí, Mr Silver said “on multiple occasions” that Gda Horkan had tried to kill him. Another manufactured defence, counsel suggested, was that Gda Horkan had shot himself during the struggle.

Mr Silver’s account in the trial “fits closer to the evidence” of the pathologist who said that all but one of the shots were fired from a distance greater than one metre, Mr Dwyer said. He added that Mr Silver was “forced to abandon the suggestion that Gda Horkan shot himself.” All of those defences “appear to fall away very quickly” Mr Dwyer said, leaving only the defence of diminished responsibility. He added: “Unlike the other defences created by Mr Silver, this has taken two years to build ... having had the opportunity to look at all of the evidence.”

Mr Dwyer said the “kernel” of the trial is the evidence of Professor Harry Kennedy, a consultant psychiatrist, who said that purposeful behaviour is the primary evidence of capacity in the absence of delusions. Mr Dwyer said the evidence showed “purposeful, complex and careful behaviour by Mr Silver” and that he was not suffering delusions or hallucinations. He said that the jury cannot rely on Mr Silver’s claims that he was having delusions at the time and said that there is “an enormous question mark” over any reliance on Mr Silver’s account of what happened.

Counsel suggested that Mr Silver had tried to “retrofit” mental disorder into his defence by saying that he believed in the build-up to the shooting that a woman he was seeing was an MI6 spy and that some builders he saw at a hotel in Dublin were in the SAS and had planted a bomb under his van. Mr Dwyer said there is a “simpler, common sense” explanation that these things did not happen. Mr Dwyer said there are “clear and rational” explanations for Mr Silver’s behaviour on the day and he pointed out that a consultant psychiatrist who examined him hours after the shooting found no evidence that Mr Silver was acutely unwell. He said that his aggressive behaviour during garda interviews and his demands to be allowed to leave can be explained by his “learned impunity” – despite numerous incidents of violent behaviour over many years he had never been arrested but was always brought to hospital for treatment.

“Why was he to believe that this episode would be any different?” Mr Dwyer asked. Counsel said his behaviour was “entirely consistent with his previous experience” and he became frustrated when he was not released. “This is how he has learned to act in his violent interactions with gardaí over the years, this is learned impunity,” he said. He suggested that during his garda interviews Mr Silver showed himself to be aware and alert and engaged in “defensive behaviour” such as whistling, singing or insulting gardaí when he was presented with “overwhelming evidence”. “That is not a mental disorder, that’s just his personality,” Mr Dwyer said.

The defence will deliver a closing speech to the jury of seven men and five women tomorrow. Mr Justice Paul McDermott is presiding.