Jury in Stephen Silver murder trial to return for third day of deliberations on Wednesday

The jury in the trial of Stephen Silver, who is accused of killing Garda Colm Horkan with his own gun, will continue their deliberations for a third day on Wednesday.

The jury has spent a total of five hours and three minutes deliberating so far.

Mr Silver (46), of Aughaward, Foxford, County Mayo 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 June 17th, 2020.

He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and the jury has been told the main issue in the trial is Mr Silver’s state of mind at the time of the shooting.

Stephen Silver: The full story of his trial for the murder of Garda Colm Horkan

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The jury returned to court briefly before lunch to ask Ms Justice Tara Burns for clarification on the term recklessness before resuming their deliberations.

In her directions to the jury yesterday, Ms Justice Burns today told the panel of seven men and five women that the possible verdicts they could consider relate to capital murder, murder simpliciter, or manslaughter either because of diminished responsibility or self-defence. She said that a verdict of not guilty is not open to them in the case as Mr Silver has entered a plea to the charge of manslaughter.

The jury have been asked to consider whether Mr Silver was suffering from a relapse of his mental illness when he shot and killed Garda Horkan and whether this substantially reduced his responsibility.

The defence contends Mr Silver was in a relapse of his mental illness at the time of the offence and the shooting of Garda Horkan by the accused was “not a rational act”.

The prosecution case was that Mr Silver had a “seething resentment” towards gardaí and the shooting of Garda Horkan was a “deliberate action done with the intent of murder”.

Dr Brenda Wright, interim clinical director of the Central Mental Hospital, who was called by the defence, said Mr Silver’s capacity was “significantly impaired” at the time of the shooting as a consequence of his mental illness.

She said it was her view that Mr Silver’s illness at the time of the killing of Garda Horkan was such that it impaired his thinking and his judgement and therefore contributed significantly to his actions at that time.

Consultant psychiatrist Professor Harry Kennedy, who was called as a prosecution witness, said he found “no positive evidence” that Mr Silver had suffered a relapse of bipolar affective disorder at the time the garda was shot and killed.

Prof Kennedy said that throughout his garda interviews, Mr Silver maintained a heightened emotional state and was at times angry and self-pitying. He said the accused expressed no regret or sympathy for the deceased and appeared to show poor social judgement, expecting to be released without charge.

The jury heard Prof Kennedy say that all of this could be explained by Mr Silver’s personality, heightened under the conditions of the stress and strain of his arrest and were not the result of his mental illness.