Court reserves judgment in Stephen Silver’s appeal against murder conviction

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Stephen Silver has appealed his murder conviction, arguing that the State’s psychiatric evidence conflicted with the legal test for insanity. His barrister said the trial judge should have told the jury that the ability to form intent did not rule out a defence under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006; the Director of Public Prosecutions’ barrister argued that the jury had been properly directed to consider all the evidence. The Court of Appeal reserved judgment.

Silver was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2023, with a minimum term of 40 years. The appeal’s outcome remains pending.