Stephen Silver pleaded not guilty to murder of Colm Horkan

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

Stephen Silver pleaded not guilty to the murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, on 17 June 2020. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The murder charge alleged that Silver knew or was reckless as to whether Detective Garda Horkan was a member of An Garda Síochána acting in accordance with his duty. The proceedings were reported on 11 October 2022.

Garda Helen Gillen told the trial that she and Garda Aidan Fallon saw two men grappling and heard what they believed to be gunshots. She described seeing a man shoot another man on the ground and later throw the gun away. She said she could not remember how many shots were fired.

Garda Gillen said the man told her he was going to be attacked and that the other man had a gun. She recalled that, when Garda Fallon told Silver he had shot a guard, Silver replied: “he wasn’t a guard”.

The trial was continuing before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury.