Murder accused Stephen Silver had a “seething resentment” toward gardaí and the shooting of Garda Colm Horkan was “a deliberate action done with the intent of murder,” a prosecution barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
In the prosecution’s closing statement in the trial of Mr Silver (46), of Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, Michael Delaney SC said Garda Horkan was a well-regarded member of the for with 25 years’ service and no disciplinary issues on his record.
He said the Garda had no idea when he signed out his firearm on the afternoon of June 17th, 2020, that he would be shot dead with the same gun just nine hours later.
Mr Silver has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Garda Horkan knowing or being reckless as to whether he was a member of An Garda Síochana acting in accordance with his duty at Castlerea, Co Roscommon on June 17th, 2020. He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the jury has been told the main issue in the trial is Mr Silver’s state of mind at the time.
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Mr Delaney told the jury that the unlawful killing of Garda Horkan is not an issue because Mr Silver has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, so he has admitted it was unlawful.
“You cannot rely on what Mr Silver has said in interview or told psychiatrists or what he told the court. Because whether he is well or unwell, he has a tendency to embellish things or to tell outright lies. He has an overarching tendency to tell self-serving accounts,” he said.
He said that the accused had told Prof Harry Kennedy “a fib” as to whether or not he knew the deceased was a garda, by twice saying he thought that Garda Horkan had said “Arda” when he got out of his car to speak to him, something he later admitted was a lie.
‘Itching for confrontation’
Mr Delaney said that the accused told Dr Brenda Wright that he only pulled the trigger once, but evidence was given during the trial of the pull pressure required to discharge a shot.
“He denied itching for a confrontation with the gardaí, but we suggest the evidence suggests the opposite,” said Mr Delaney. “He had a seething resentment towards the gardaí, something that was reflected in his interview where he said: ‘I have a sh**load of complaints against the gardaí, a list as long as my arm’.”
Mr Delaney also said that at the scene of the shooting, Mr Silver said to gardaí: “I know what ye did to that black man in America,” which Mr Delaney said was a reference to the shooting of George Floyd by US police.
He said that Mr Silver’s behaviour in Knockroe estate that night, when he disturbed residents by driving a motorbike around loudly, was inflammatory in nature and that he dared an “armed squad” to come down.
Mr Delaney said that the disturbance in Knockroe prompted neighbours to call gardaí and Garda Horkan’s car was seen driving into Knockroe and then leaving, following the same direction that Mr Silver and his friend James Coyne had taken. He said there was an inference that Garda Horkan was investigating the disturbance.
“The accused would have you believe that for no reason Garda Horkan got out of the car and squared up to him. That doesn’t stand up,” said Mr Delaney.
He said that Mr Silver had on three occasions during garda interviews agreed with Mr Coyne’s statement that Garda Horkan had said he was arresting Mr Silver.
“It was only the fourth time that he flipped and said the whole thing was lies and bullsh**,” said Mr Delaney, adding that the prosecution was suggesting that Mr Silver had reflected on this and seen difficulty in the word “arrest,” hence his “lame attempt” to cast out this part of the statement.
Concerning Mr Silver’s account of the struggle between him and Garda Horkan, Mr Delaney said that it seemed implausible that someone trained in the use of firearms like Garda Horkan would pull the trigger in a manner that had no control over the direction of the bullet.
He said that Mr Silver struck Garda Horkan on the head at least once with the gun and then shot him 10 times, with some of those fired while the deceased was on the ground.
“He fired until the gun was empty. If there had been more bullets in the gun, would he have kept firing? How many bullets until he felt safe in his own mind?” asked Mr Delaney.
‘Defensive strategy’
He said that remarks made by Mr Silver in his interviews with gardaí about being set-up and claiming Garda Horkan had killed himself were all part of “a defensive strategy to cast himself as the innocent party”.
“He was attempting to conceal his guilt,” said Mr Delaney.
He went on to say that the prosecution believed that the defence of diminished responsibility should be rejected. He said that the shooting of Gda Horkan was a deliberate action done with the intent of murder and done with knowledge that he was a garda acting in his duty.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Tara Burns and a jury of seven men and five women on Friday, with the defence due to delivering a closing statement.