The jury in the trial of a 46-year-old man accused of the murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan almost two years ago has failed to agree on a verdict.
Stephen Silver from Foxford in Co Mayo admitted shooting Garda Horkan with the garda's own gun in Castlerea, Co Roscommon in June 2020, but he denied murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The court heard Mr Silver had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had a history of mental illness and hospital admissions going back almost 20 years.
The defence argued that he was suffering from a relapse of his mental disorder at the time of the shooting.
The prosecution case was that Mr Silver was filled with anger towards gardaí and there was no evidence that his mental disorder had caused him to act in the way he did.
The trial heard expert psychiatric evidence from the defence and the prosecution.
The jurors were deliberating for a total of eight hours and 35 minutes before Mr Justice Paul McDermott was informed they could not agree on a verdict.
Earlier, he had directed them that they could bring in a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.
Garda Horkan was shot 11 times with his garda issued firearm shortly before midnight on 17 June 2020 in Castlerea.
The court heard evidence that Mr Silver and a friend had been riding a motorbike erratically around a local estate and neighbours had called gardaí.
Garda Horkan's unmarked car was seen in the estate before he pulled up alongside the two men, who were walking towards the town centre.
Mr Silver gave evidence in his own defence and denied he had said or done anything to Garda Horkan before the garda got out of the car and came towards him.
He denied a prosecution suggestion that he spat at the garda. He also claimed he did not know Garda Horkan was a garda.
The two men started grappling and when Mr Silver felt Garda Horkan’s gun, he said he thought he was the subject of an assassination attempt.
He admitted shooting Garda Horkan, hitting him with the butt of the gun as he fell to the ground and shooting him again, a number of times.
He said none of it would have happened if he had been well.
Justice McDermott thanked the jury for their service, saying it was a very difficult case to engage with, both in terms of the evidence and the nature of the case, which he said was "terribly upsetting".
The case will now be mentioned in court on 9 December to set a date for a retrial.
