Video evidence in the murder trial of a Detective Garda in Roscommon 2 years ago has shown Gardaí claiming the defendant knew Colm Horkan was a garda, despite his claims otherwise.
Stephen Silver from Foxford in Mayo has plead guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility but not guilty of his murder.
A video recording of Mr Silver’s fifth Garda interview was played to the jury yesterday afternoon, with Detective Sergeant, now inspector, Brian Hanly and Detective Garda Paddy Fallon putting the question to the accused. Stephen Silver was interviewed five times over 48 hours following the shooting of Detective Horkan in Castlerea on the 17th of June 2020.
The detectives began the final interview by showing Mr Silver a picture of Colm Horkan’s service weapon, the gun that was used in his shooting. In the video, Stephen Silver responds to the picture by stating ‘it’s not even a man’s gun, it’s a peashooter, a child’s gun.’
He continued ‘this is what happens when a child uses a gun against a man’ with Detectives responding, ‘he wasn’t a child, he was a Garda.’
A short time later Gardaí read a list of examples from previous interviews where Stephen Silver mentioned Colm Horkan telling him he was a member of the Gardaí. They continued, stating that Colm Horkan’s Garda ID was found away from his body, before asking
Silver if the victim had presented his ID?
Gardaí then told the defendant that he had met the victim before, with Colm Horkan having attended a call to the accused’s mothers house in 2003 over her request for a police escort of Silver, with detectives asking him ‘How can you tell us you didn’t know he was a Garda?’ On return from a toilet break, Stephen Silver told one of the detectives to ‘sit down before you’re put down’
In evidence shown before the jury yesterday evening, Stephen Silver is shown shouting at detectives ‘I had to disarm him’ and ‘that’s why I made sure he didn’t get up again.’ In the video shown to court, Mr Silver responded briefly to details of another witness report before the interview was paused and the trial adjourned until later this morning.]
