The leather pistol holster used by a Garda murdered in Roscommon in 2020 was 'dangerously defective' and should have been examined after the shooting, the Dáil has heard.
Detective Colm Horkan was shot and killed with his own gun in Castlerea on the 17th of June, 2020 by Stephen Silver who was found guilty of Capital Murder.
Labour's Justice spokesperson Alan Kelly raised the issue in the Dáil last night and called for answers from the Minister for Justice.
The holsters were from an equine saddlery in Kildare and according to experts, were found to be 'so poorly designed the firearm could be removed from the holster with retention strap fully fastened.'
Deputy Kelly states that this left the gun open to removal by individuals other than the garda.
Following an incident outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin a week before Colm's murder, where a Garda was injured in an accidental discharge of his weapon, it was also found that the holster could actually engage the trigger and fire the weapon of its own accord.
The Labour Justice spokesperson called for an explanation for the lack of investigation into Detective Horkan's holster.
Deputy Kelly also called on the Minister to explain why it took three years for the holsters to be removed from use even though a safety notice for them had been issued in July 2020.
