A close colleague of slain Detective Garda Colm Horkan said his bravery on the day of his murder prevented a possible “mass shooting”.
The Irish Mirror exclusively sat down with two close Garda colleagues of Colm at Castlerea Garda Station – after monster Stephen Silver was found guilty of the hero detective’s capital murder on Wednesday.
Silver, who will be sentenced on April 19, faces a mandatory term of at least 40 years in prison.
READ MORE: Stephen Silver found guilty of capital murder of Garda Colm Horkan and facing 40 years in prison
He pumped 11 bullets into Det Gda Horkan with the detective’s own gun as the officer lay helpless on the ground in the horror on June 17, 2020.
Garda Darryl Gilmore, GRA CEC rep for Roscommon and Longford, and Garda Liam McBrien, who both served with Colm, yesterday said that the jury’s verdict on Wednesday was the right one.
And Garda McBrien, who served eight years alongside Colm in Ballaghaderreen, said, in his view, Silver was an arrogant killer who should have confessed to murder from day one.
He added he believes Silver’s horrific actions – in which he fired 11 shots at Colm on the main street of Castlerea shortly before midnight on June 17, 2020 – shows his murderous intentions that day.
Garda McBrien said: “If he had any decency about him at all he should have just said ‘right, hands up’. He didn’t.
“It shows the mark of the two people. If Colm hadn’t been as brave and as committed as he had, there would have probably been bullets left in the gun, and the two next guards that arrived could have been shot.
“It could have been a mass shooting.”
Garda McBrien believes that had the verdict gone the other way and Silver was found not guilty, he could have committed murder again.
He added: “Look I’m not neutral on this, but if he got off with that and he only got eight or 10 years with diminished responsibility – I wouldn’t feel safe. I feel he would do it again.
“I don’t think that he would say ‘oh my God I spent eight years in prison I won’t do that again’.
“It would be ‘I done this before I can get away with it again’.”
The pair spoke to this paper inside Castlerea Garda Station, which has pictures of Colm Horkan in almost every room, a plaque at the entrance, and a tree in his honour out back.
Both knew Colm well, and described him as an “absolute gentleman” who would have done anything for anyone.
Garda Gilmore said: “He was a uniformed guard in Ballaghaderreen [Roscommon] at the time and I was in here in Castlerea. He was in here covering with us.
“I know it can be over-said about a lot of people but he was the quintessential dedicated unwavering type.
“He really was the gentle giant. In this job you do get a thicker skin and a dark sense of humour to try and deal with things but he never had it.
“He was the go-to guard. He wouldn’t be one for prosecuting everyone. A soft word would do.
“It was a cliche to say but he was a lovely fella. Completely genuine. No airs or graces and no agendas whatsoever.
“He stayed on that night. He had been told previously if you want to head off you can head off. He was going early because he had to get the car serviced the following morning.
“He could’ve been gone. But that wasn’t him,” Garda McBrien added.
“He was the only detective working. He was the only one who could carry a firearm.”
During the trial Silver tried to claim diminished responsibility and manslaughter due to his mental state when he killed Det Garda Horkan –who, he claimed, he believed was trying to kill him.
However, the jury rejected Silver’s desperate side of the story and convicted him of capital murder.
Speaking yesterday, Garda Gilmore described how Silver came into Castlerea Garda Station earlier in the day on June 17, 2020, taunting officers.
“He had been in here earlier that day as a way of provoking a reaction. He had a bit of a rant.
“The whole thing with the motorbike was to tempt someone out.
“He was saying ‘get the armed support out now or get a sniper to take me out and where are ye now’.
“There was going to be an encounter that night unfortunately.”
But both men say they were still shocked to hear the entire detail of how their colleague was gunned down as they listened to the details of Silver’s fatal shooting of Det Garda Horkan during the trial.
Garda McBrien said: “He was determined. He walked around Colm. He shot him three times in the back and then while he was lying on the ground he walked around him and just emptied the gun. It’s hard to comprehend how violent it was.”
Garda Gilmore added: “It was only when they held up his jacket in the courtroom, the infamous Tommy Hilfiger jacket they keep talking about, when you see it held up, you just see the level of violence involved.
“It was literally in tatters. It was frightening. That’s the only way you could describe it.”
Garda Gilmore, who also lost his friend Garda Tony Golden to murder in Louth in 2015, says the impact of both losses will never leave him.
“This is the second unit colleague of mine that’s been murdered in the line of duty. It doesn’t get easy.”
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