The jury in the Colm Horkan murder trial has heard the man accused of killing the detective referenced ‘Black Lives Matter‘ in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting.
Stephen Silver, a motorbike mechanic with an address at Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, has pleaded NOT guilty to his murder, but guilty to manslaughter.
At about 10.30pm on June 17 2020, Stephen Silver and his friend went to an estate in Castlerea where they allegedly took turns driving a motorbike around the green with no lights or helmets on. Residents called the guards.
Opening his case, the prosecuting barrister, Michael Delaney SC, said it will be alleged that shortly after the two men left the estate, Detective Garda Colm Horkan pulled up beside them near Main St, Castlerea, and that when he got out of his car to arrest Mr Silver for an alleged assault, a struggle ensued that led to the detective’s standard issue gun being fired, and with the detective wounded, Mr Silver allegedly used the gun to shoot him repeatedly.
Mr Delaney SC said the full magazine was emptied and that Detective Horkan suffered eleven gunshot wounds to the body.
The jury was told they’d hear evidence from one of the first gardai on the scene who will say that Mr Silver claimed he was attacked and that he shot the detective because of ‘all that’s going on with the police in this world.’
