Garda murder accused dared 'the armed squad to come down', witness tells trial

The Central Criminal Court heard evidence on Thursday that Stephen Silver, a forty-six-year-old mechanic from Foxford in County Mayo, was shouting in a Castlerea street on the night Garda Colm Horkan was fatally shot, daring armed gardaí to confront him. Witness testimony established that Mr Silver had visited Castlerea Garda Station earlier that day to lodge an angry complaint about a garda raid on a neighbouring property. Several residents of Knockroe estate told the court they observed Mr Silver riding a motorbike recklessly around the area at approximately ten-thirty that evening, engaging in erratic behaviour including aggressive shouting. One witness stated she heard him challenge the armed squad to come down. Mr Silver has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Garda Horkan on June seventeenth, twenty twenty, but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. His defence team has indicated that Mr Silver's state of mind at the material time remains the central issue in the trial before Ms Justice Tara Burns. The case continues.