The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering a Garda in County Roscommon over two years ago will resume their deliberations today.
Stephen Silver, of Aughaward, Foxford, Co Mayo, denies murdering detective Colm Horkan in June 2020, but admits manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
The seven men and five women received their final instructions from Judge Paul McDermott on Monday just before lunchtime. The trial, which has lasted seven weeks to date, has heard from dozens of witnesses and medical experts
There are four verdicts open to the jurors; capital murder, murder, manslaughter, or manslaughter by diminished responsibility. At the outset of his trial, Stephen Silver pleaded NOT guilty to capital murder but guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Extensive evidence was heard in relation to his psychiatric history and he claims he was suffering a relapse of bipolar affective disorder when he shot Det Colm Horan. His plea wasn’t accepted and the prosecution called their own expert, who was of the view that he had “significant functional mental capacity” at the time. The jury is expected to resume their deliberations at the Central Criminal court this morning.
