Stephen Silver, who denies murdering Det Gda Colm Horkan, had a "smirk on his face" as he told a garda trying to resuscitate the detective that he was "doing it wrong" and that he was killing him, a witness has told the Central Criminal Court.
Gda Aidan Fallon said he was driving a garda patrol car when he saw two men fighting on the side of the street before he heard what he believed to be gunshots. He turned the garda car around and through the passenger side window he saw a man with a gun twice shoot another man who was lying on the ground.
When Gda Fallon’s colleague Gda Helen Gillen put the accused man into handcuffs, Gda Fallon turned the man in the street over and realised it was his colleague, Det Gda Horkan. The witness began to cry and paused to drink water as he told the court: "His eyes were open, like he was looking back at me, but I knew then he was gone. I knew straight away." He attempted CPR but, he told prosecution counsel Michael Delaney SC, "As I was doing CPR, the other man started telling me, you are doing it wrong, you are doing it wrong, you are killing him. He had a smirk on his face as he was saying it to me."
Stephen Silver (46), a motorbike mechanic from Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Det Gda Horkan on June 17, 2020 at Castlerea, Co Roscommon.
He is charged that he committed the murder knowing or being reckless as to whether Det Gda Horkan was a member of An Garda Síochána acting in accordance with his duty. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
Gunshots
Earlier on Tuesday, Gda Gillen told Mr Delaney that she also saw the two men grappling and heard what she believed to be gunshots. She said she looked back as Gda Fallon turned the car to block the street and she saw a man falling backwards onto the road. She continued: "Looking back up and I could see the man on the ground and then another male walked from Gannon’s shop with pace over to this man on the ground and he had a gun in his hand and he shot the man on the ground. I could see him shooting him on the ground, and then I remember him turning to go away and then I got out of the car."
Gda Gillen began crying as she told Mr Delaney that she couldn’t remember how many shots were fired, “if it was three, or five.”
She saw the man throw the gun away and recalled that he was wearing a backpack and a black jacket with a luminous stripe. She added: "At this stage I got out of the car and started walking back up towards Patrick St and Aidan got out of the driver’s side and was coming around, saying a man had been shot, killed. Aidan was shouting at me to pull back, but I kept walking because the gun was gone."
The shooter, she said, was "looking down at us" from the door of Gannon’s travel agents but then moved to the middle of the junction and began "not hopping but moving from foot to foot, they were wide steps, he was shouting stuff, I can’t remember what he was saying."
Looking at the man on the ground, she said she recognised his jacket and the Hyundai car nearby looked familiar, but she couldn’t see the man’s face. She told the other man to get on the ground and he lay face down but then pushed himself up and said that he was “going to be attacked, that man was going to attack me, he had a gun, he was going to attack me.”
'We knew it was Detective Garda Colm Horkan'
Gda Fallon then turned the man on the ground over “and that’s when we knew it was Detective Garda Colm Horkan,” the witness said. When Gda Fallon told Mr Silver that he had "shot a guard" Gda Gillen recalled that the accused responded, “he wasn’t a guard”. Under cross-examination, Gda Gillen agreed with Roisin Lacey SC, for Mr Silver, that the accused repeatedly said that the deceased was not a garda and said that gardai don't carry guns and pointed out that he was not wearing a uniform and was driving an unmarked car.
Gda Fallon told Mr Delaney that on the night he recalls driving from the Knockroe estate into Castlerea. It was “very quiet” due to the Covid-19 lockdown and as they arrived at the junction of Patrick St and Main St he saw James Coyne, who was the subject of earlier complaints about a motorcycle being driven dangerously in Knockroe.
In the same moment, Gda Fallon said he saw two men “with their hands on each other, it was similar to what you might see outside a nightclub with men fighting.”
As Gda Fallon stopped the car, he said he heard gunshots. “I heard numerous shots. Numerous shots. We couldn’t believe it at the time. At this stage we did not know who the men were or what the situation was.”
Gda Fallon drove on to a safe distance, about 30 to 40 metres, and Gda Gillen called command and control to report that shots had been fired in Castlerea. Gda Fallon turned the car to block the road and activated the blue lights. He added: "The next thing I remember is hearing more shots. At this stage I looked over my shoulder out the passenger window past Helen. I observed a male lying in the middle of the road and I observed a man standing over him and I observed two shots… and watched the man stand over the other man with a gun in his hand."
Gda Gillen began walking towards the scene while Gda Fallon called for an armed garda. He added: "I didn’t know if there was an armed member available to call down to us, I realised we were probably on our own for a little while." He walked with Gda Gillen towards the man, who was now on his knees, and asked, “where is the gun?” Mr Silver told him he had thrown it away.
He remembered the man shouting, "I shot him, I shot him, he’s dead." Gda Fallon added: "I knelt down beside the man on the ground, he was face downwards. I turned him around to start CPR and that’s when I seen it was Colm. I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t even enter my head. Colm’s eyes were open, like he was looking back at me, but I knew then he was gone, I knew straight away."
Having handcuffed Mr Silver, Gda Gillen took over CPR and Gda Fallon went to Mr Silver and asked him to sit back down on the pavement or get onto his knees. Gda Fallon said the accused refused and then told him: "I know what ye did to the black man in America. Ye killed him." The garda recalled telling Mr Silver that he had shot a detective and Mr Silver replied: "Of course I shot him, he had a gun. Doesn’t look like a good detective now, does he? What kind of detective wears a Tommy Hilfiger jacket?"
Conveyed to the Garda station
When Sgt Michael O’Hara arrived he and Gda Fallon linked their arms under Mr Silver’s arms to bring him to the station. Gda Fallon said the accused shouted “police abuse” a couple of times and repeated what he had said about police killing a black man in America. He also mentioned Black Lives Matter and then said that he had coronavirus and “started coughing into my face, maybe five or six times.”
After they got Mr Silver to Castlerea Station Gda Fallon said he had no further dealings with him.
Mr Silver’s counsel Gerardine Small SC asked Gda Fallon why he had not mentioned in his statement in 2020 that he saw the man in the street holding a gun and firing two shots. He said he gave the statement 48 hours after the incident and "a lot of things became very clear and very raw after that".
When asked why an experienced garda would not tell his colleagues that he had remembered something important relating to a "capital murder case" he said: "I don’t like talking about anything in relation to this. I keep it to myself." He said that he did speak to his sergeant about seeing the two shots being fired when he returned to his duties some time later.
Ms Small will continue the cross-examination tomorrow in front of Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and five women.
