Garda murder accused said his mental health declined during Covid restrictions

Stephen Silver told a doctor that Covid 'destroyed everything' court heard

The trial jury also heard on Friday that in the hours after his arrest, Stephen Silver refused an assessment from a psychiatrist, who told the court Mr Silver showed 'no evidence of an active mental illness' when he assessed him. File picture: Michael McCormack/PA

Stephen Silver, who is accused of murdering a garda with his own gun, told a doctor his mental health began to decline while Covid restrictions were in place and Covid had "destroyed everything", the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Dr Greg Kelly agreed with Mr Silver's defence lawyers that psychiatric services were restricted because of Covid and that one of the most important aspects of psychiatric care is having face to face care.

“It’s very important,” the doctor said. “Having phone consultations is no replacement for face to face.” 

The trial jury also heard on Friday that in the hours after his arrest, the accused refused an assessment from a psychiatrist, who told the court Mr Silver showed “no evidence of an active mental illness” when he assessed him.

“I thought there was no evidence of an active mental illness. That didn’t mean he doesn’t have one,” Dr William Monteiro told the jury. 

He added his main concern was whether Mr Silver was fit to be interviewed.

Mr Silver, 46, a motorbike mechanic from Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Garda Colm Horkan, 49, 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 17, 2020. He has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Garda testimony

Sergeant Maura McGarry told James Dwyer SC, for the prosecution, she was on duty the day after Garda Horkan was killed and was with Mr Silver when he requested to speak to his mother on the phone. The garda said she telephoned Mr Silver’s mother and was present in the room while he spoke to her.

While on the phone, the accused said he and James Coyne had been walking up the main street when “a suspicious looking Dublin car came up” and a “suspicious looking fella got out” and came up to them.

Mr Silver then said: “He had a gun on him and he reached for his gun and I grabbed it and shot him. I didn’t mean to. Turns out he is a detective. F**k me.” 

Detective Garda Colm Horkan was shot dead with at Castlerea, Co Roscommon, on June 17, 2020. File picture

The court also heard Mr Silver declined to give his fingerprints while in custody, citing Covid 19 as the reason.

“He said ‘that’s what caused all this with the guard last night. Social distancing,’” Sgt McGarry said.

The sergeant told the jury that the accused spat at her through the hatch in the cell door and subsequently pulled his underwear down and spread his buttocks in front of some of her colleagues when they attempted to bring him for a shower.

Psychiatrist's evidence

Earlier, the jury heard evidence from consultant psychiatrist Dr William Monteiro, who said Mr Silver refused a psychiatric assessment on the night he was arrested and told him “you are f**king joking, why should I tell you” when the doctor enquired why he was there.

Dr Monteiro told prosecution counsel Michael Delaney SC the accused showed “no evidence of an active mental illness” when he assessed him and displayed “a large measure of control”.

The psychiatrist said he interacted with the accused twice over a short period during which time the accused “refused to have very much to do with me”.

“The guard explained who I was and why I wanted to see him. He said ‘well I don’t know this man I don’t want to talk to him’. He was clearly switching me off so to speak and focusing on the guard,” the doctor told Mr Delaney.

Dr Monteiro said he observed the defendant and his interactions with the guard for some time and noted the accused was “clear” and “lucid” and “he could engage in normal conversation”.

“He interacted with the garda in a reciprocal way. The guard would say something and he would respond. It was obvious he was lucid, he did not have clouded consciousness,” said the doctor.

Asked by Mr Delaney to explain what “clouded consciousness” entails, the doctor said this was a situation where someone is somewhat unaware of the situation or themselves and can appear “vague perplexed, uncertain. The person is out of touch, if you like with reality. That is clouded consciousness.” 

The psychiatrist said Mr Silver showed no evidence of “thought disorder” and his eye contact was normal.

“I thought there was no evidence of an active mental illness. That didn’t mean he doesn’t have one,” Dr Monteiro said. 

“I thought he had a large measure of control of himself. I felt, on balance, this is someone who could be interviewed. He could give an account of himself. He was quite able to make up his mind about what he wanted to do and not want to do but obviously I only saw him for a short space of time.” 

In his second interaction with the accused, Mr Silver asked the doctor his name and what he wanted from him. “I said I’m just interested in what brought you into here.” Dr Monteiro added: 

He basically said you’re fucking joking, why should I tell you? Then he demanded a solicitor and made it quite clear he wasn’t going to talk to me.” 

 Under cross examination, defence counsel Dominic McGinn put it to the consultant psychiatrist that his interactions with Mr Silver were very limited and the accused had refused a psychiatric assessment.

“You use the term I spoke very briefly to him and he “appears to understand” that’s the language you are using. Because in fairness you didn’t see him for very long?” Mr McGinn said.

Dr Monteiro said his main concern was if he had enough data to conclude Mr Silver was fit to be interviewed.

“I felt I was seeing someone who had good control of their behaviour, good control of their intentions, full ability to interact with me and the guard,” he said.

Covid restrictions

Earlier, the court heard Mr Silver told a local doctor his mental health began to decline while Covid restrictions were in place and revealed he had been living in a shed prior to the fatal shooting of Garda Horkan.

Dr Greg Kelly, a Castlerea based GP, told the jury that Mr Silver told him he was bipolar but had given up his medication.

He said the day after the shooting the accused appeared “elated” and “did not appear to have taken on the gravity of the situation”.

Dr Kelly told prosecution counsel James Dwyer SC that Mr Silver said he was living in a shed in Foxford and told him Covid had “upset his whole life”. 

Mr Silver also said he had “shot a garda in self-defence" and “his mood and demeanour seemed wholly inappropriate for the situation he was in,” the doctor added.

The doctor agreed with Mr Dwyer that the accused appeared “agitated” when he first spoke to him through a hatch door in the early hours of June 18, 2020, but said Mr Silver was also “lucid” and “coherent”.

“He said to me ‘I was just going for pizza with James Coyne’ and made some reference to going to jail and something about a gun,” Dr Kelly said.

The accused requested valium but the doctor did not have any and instead gave him 50mg of seroquel, an anti-psychotic drug. The doctor said Mr Silver requested a glass of water and then asked for a second one “because he thought the first one was poisoned”.

Dr Kelly said he spoke to Mr Silver again at 3pm on June 18 and found him less agitated and distressed.

“If anything, he appeared elated and he did not appear to have taken on the gravity of the situation.” 

The doctor spoke to Mr Silver at lunchtime the following day and told gardaí the accused was fit to be interviewed. “He told me ‘I’ll be out of here this evening’”, Dr Kelly added.

Under crossed examination from Dominic McGinn, Dr Kelly said he had been a practising GP for 47 years and prior to that he had worked in a psychiatric hospital.

Asked if Mr Silver presented differently on each of the occasions he spoke to him, Dr Kelly said the accused was “much calmer and meek” on the second and third occasions.

Upset about tea

“I thought it was a peculiar reaction for a man in his situation, he seemed quite calm and said he’d be out of here by the afternoon,” adding Mr Silver was upset the gardaí weren’t getting him tea he had requested.

“I thought it was an extraordinary attitude to have.” Dr Kelly agreed with Mr McGinn that there was a “marked difference” to the first and second time he saw the accused. “The first time I saw him he was very agitated and had been banging his head off the cell wall,” he said.

The doctor said the fact Mr Silver believed the first glass of water he had been given was poisoned suggested “a high state of delusion”.

Dr Kelly confirmed to Mr McGinn that during his interviews with Mr Silver it transpired that the accused had been under psychiatric care for a long time but “the level of care had dissipated because of covid restrictions”.

The doctor said Mr Silver had told him: “Covid ruined everything, or destroyed everything in his own words."

He agreed with Mr McGinn that psychiatric services were restricted because of Covid and that one of the most important aspects of psychiatric care is having face to face care.

“It’s very important,” the doctor said. “Having phone consultations is no replacement for face to face.” The trial continues on Monday before Ms Justice Tara Burns and the jury of seven men and five women.