The prosecution in the trial of a man accused of the murder of a detective in Roscommon two years ago have accused the defendant of ‘spoiling for a row with Gardaí’ on the night of the shooting.
Stephen Silver of Foxford, Mayo has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility of Detective Garda Colm Horkan in Castlerea in June 2020 but not guilty of his murder.
The 46 year old bike mechanic spent his second day giving evidence to the jury in his trial at the central criminal court today. The activities of the accused in the day leading up to the fatal shooting of Detective Horkan were highlighted by the prosecution in court today. Michael Delaney SC for the State brought Mr Silver through his actions on the 17th of June citing his viewing of a video showing a Garda raid on the home of his friend, James Coyne, that afternoon. Following questioning, Silver confirmed that the video had left him annoyed and that he had ranted at gardaí following a short visit to Castlerea Garda Station on that afternoon about the issue. The prosecution referred to evidence submitted earlier in the trial where a customer of Mr Silver, who attended his bike repair shop in Foxford, was shown the video by the accused before commenting ‘they wrecked that mans house, I’m going back to Castlerea tonight.’ It was put to the Foxford man that the raid was still on his mind that night and that on returning to the north Roscommon town, he drove a motorcycle with no lights and with no helmet through the Knockroe estate, and in the words of the prosecution, ‘you tried to provoke a response from Gardaí’.
Stephen Silver denied this and claimed to be talking gibberish when he shouted ‘I dare the armed squad to come down here’ and ‘You’d need a sniper to get a shot’. He was asked if he’d been thinking of shooting a Garda that night to which he responded ‘no I’d no gun... I’d no interest in shooting gardaí.’ On referencing the interaction between the Charlestown Detective and Mr Silver, Michael Delaney SC asked the accused had he spat at the Garda through the car window resulting in Colm Horkan exiting the vehicle to attempt to arrest him? The prosecution followed this claim with a reference to video evidence of one of the defendant’s garda interviews where he had spat of Detective Paddy Farrell, with Silver then apologising for that particular incident but denying the original claim.
Evidence in the trial will continue before the jury of 7 men and 5 women tomorrow morning.
