Murder accused Stephen Silver had a "seething resentment" toward gardaí and the shooting of Garda Colm Horkan was "a deliberate action done with the intent of murder", a prosecution barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
In the closing statement for the prosecution in the trial of Mr Silver, 46, of Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, Michael Delaney SC said that Gda Horkan was a well-regarded garda of 25 years' service with no disciplinary issues on his record, who had no idea when he signed out his firearm on the afternoon of 17 June 2020, that he would be shot dead with the same gun just nine hours later.
Mr Silver has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Gda Horkan knowing or being reckless as to whether he was a member of An Garda Síochána acting in accordance with his duty at Castlerea, Co Roscommon on 17 June 2020.
He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the jury have been told the main issue in the trial is Mr Silver’s state of mind at the time of the shooting.
Mr Delaney today told the jury that the unlawful killing of Gda Horkan is not an issue because Mr Silver has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, so he has admitted it was unlawful.
He said that certain matters in the case are clear beyond doubt. He said that Gda Horkan was a serving garda who died as a result of the actions of the accused shooting him, which was unlawful so Mr Silver was at least guilty of manslaughter.
"You cannot rely on what Mr Silver has said in interview or told psychiatrists or what he told the court. Because whether he is well or unwell, he has a tendency to embellish things or to tell outright lies. He has an overarching tendency to tell self-serving accounts," said Mr Delaney.
He said that the accused had told Professor Harry Kennedy "a fib" as to whether or not he knew Gda Horkan was a garda, by twice saying he thought that Gda Horkan had said "Arda" when he got out of his car to speak to Mr Silver, something he later admitted was a lie.
Mr Delaney said that the accused told Dr Brenda Wright that he only pulled the trigger once, but evidence was given during the trial of the pull pressure required to discharge a shot.
"He denied itching for a confrontation with the gardaí, but we suggest the evidence suggests the opposite," said Mr Delaney.
Concerning Mr Silver's account of the struggle between him and Gda Horkan, Mr Delaney said that it seemed implausible that someone trained in the use of firearms like Gda Horkan would pull the trigger in a manner that had no control over the direction of the bullet.
He said that Mr Silver struck Gda Horkan on the head at least once with the gun and then shot him ten times, some of those shots fired while Gda Horkan was on the ground.
He said that Mr Silver "made a rare slip" in garda interviews when, at one point, he was asked how he knew Gda Horkan was a garda and his answer was "Because he told me".
Mr Delaney said that Mr Silver then realised his error and said to the interviewing garda: "You told me, everybody told me."
Mr Delaney said that the first part of Mr Silver’s answer was the truth and everything else introduced by Mr Silver were red herrings. He said that Mr Silver has "a capacity for performance, for drama".
He told the jury that it had been established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused knew Gda Horkan was a garda acting in the course of his duty, and in taking the gun he attempted to kill or cause serious injury.
He said that the evidence of Prof Kennedy was that Mr Silver was not a suggestible person. He said that during the trial, Mr Silver had said he had not read the psychiatrists’ reports, but he later admitted that he had read the report by Dr Wright.
"There is nothing wrong with him reading the reports, but where you have this additional material emerging, is it possible in reading it that it had an influence on him?" said Mr Delaney.
He said that remarks made by Mr Silver in his interviews with gardaí about being set-up and claiming Gda Horkan had killed himself were all part of "a defensive strategy to cast himself as the innocent party".
"He was attempting to conceal his guilt," said Mr Delaney.
He said that Prof Kennedy had given evidence that Mr Silver had significant mental capacity at that time of the shooting, including the capacity to form intent. He said that Dr Wright disagreed with this, but she said she could not find anything of a delusional nature in his mind at the time.
Mr Delaney went on to say that the prosecution believed that the defence of diminished responsibility should be rejected.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Tara Burns and the jury of seven men and five women, when the defence will be delivering their closing statement.
