“I kept shooting until the gun finished and there was no ammunition left,” Stephen Silver has told the Central Criminal Court, describing the moment that he killed Garda Colm Horkan with the garda’s own gun.
The jury in the trial of Mr Silver (46), of Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, also heard that Mr Silver struck Gda Horkan with the butt of the gun after the first shots were fired, saying he believed the garda was “a heavy down from Dublin” who was trying to kill him.
Mr Silver has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Gda Horkan knowing or being reckless as to whether he was a member of An Garda Siochana acting in accordance with his duty at Castlerea, Co Roscommon on June 17th, 2020. He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the jury have been told the main issue in the trial is Mr Silver’s state of mind at the time of the shooting.
Mr Silver on Wednesday told the trial that he had his first mental health episode when he was 19, had been admitted to hospital 16 or 17 times and was told that he had schizoaffective disorder.
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Mr Silver on Thursday gave evidence to defence counsel Maurice Coffey SC that he and his friend James Coyne were walking up Patrick Street on the night of June 17th when he noticed a car with a Dublin registration plate cruising behind them.
“There was one man in the car staring at me. He stopped and asked me who I was, and I said, ‘Who are you?’ and he said, ‘What’s your name?’ I said my name and he said, ‘I’m a guard.’ I didn’t believe he was a guard, he didn’t come across as one. He was wearing a Hilfiger jacket. It didn’t look like a jacket worn by a guard. I wondered what he wanted. He was right up to me, very close to me, and I said, ‘Stand back’.”
Mr Silver demonstrated in the witness box the move he used, and Mr Coffey described it as “a martial arts stance with the left hand out palm facing”. Mr Silver confirmed that this was a defensive move.
“He moved back and I relaxed my stance, and then he stepped in and grabbed my left arm with his right hand. James said, ‘Jesus, Stephen, stop,’ and the guard said, ‘James,’ as he grabbed me. I thought he was a drug dealer. I thought he was a heavy down from Dublin, he knew James. I didn’t know what was happening,” said Mr Silver.
He said that he and Gda Horkan struggled for a bit before Mr Coyne grabbed Mr Silver from behind and tugged at him.
“I fell to the ground on one knee. I was in the process of getting up and had my hand on his hip, and I felt the gun. I thought, ‘Oh shit, I’m going to be shot here.’ I pulled my hand away, and I put my hand on the gun getting up. His hand was now on the gun. We were both upright. He had his hand on the gun and I had my hand on the gun and we wrestled. The gun came out; I couldn’t tell you who took it out,” said Mr Silver.
He continued: “I pulled the trigger first and nothing happened. We both had a hold of the gun together. I pulled the trigger and nothing happened, then I pulled it again and there was a loud pop noise. I fired once again, then I pulled my finger off, then he fired it twice, and then it went off another two times after that. Our hands were on the gun at the same time. Then he started falling, he lost the power in his hands. He was falling backwards and I hit him on the head with the butt of the gun. I was the only one who had the gun at that stage. He released my arm and fell backwards and I started firing the gun at him. I was just afraid, full of adrenaline. I felt he was trying to kill me. I still thought he was an assailant. I kept shooting until the gun finished and there was no ammunition left. It happened so quickly.”
He said that the gardaí then arrived and he threw the gun away.
“After I finished shooting, I walked away. I could tell the gun was empty. I looked at it with disgust and threw it away. I was all over the place. It’s too hard to explain what was going through my mind,” he said.
Mr Silver said that he was not truly aware of the gravity of the situation until he was brought to the Central Mental Hospital. He told the court that a week after being brought to the Central Mental Hospital, he started getting better and his thoughts were clearer. He said that he is now on medication and given an antipsychotic injection every two weeks.
During cross-examination by counsel for the prosecution, Michael Delaney SC, Mr Silver confirmed that when he was being arrested, he said to gardaí, “I know what ye did to the black man in America.” Mr Silver confirmed that this was a reference to the death of George Floyd but denied that he was making this reference in an attempt to put the gardaí on the same plane as the police killing an innocent man in America.
The trial continues on Friday before Ms Justice Tara Burns and the jury of seven men and five women.