Shooting of Garda Colm Horkan was 'not a rational act', murder trial told

Stephen Silver's counsel said the shooting should raise questions about Mr Silver's mental capacity

The defence counsel for Stephen Silver (pictured) told the jury Mr Silver’s behaviour while in custody was “erratic”, and included urinating in his cell, banging his head off a wall and pacing around. File picture: PA

The very act of shooting Garda Colm Horkan should “raise questions” about Stephen Silver’s mental capacity, a defence barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

In his closing address to the jury on Friday morning, defence counsel Dominic McGinn SC said the shooting of Garda Horkan was “not a rational act” and there was no rational basis or motivation for what happened. Mr McGinn described Garda Horkan’s death as “a terrible tragedy” that “should not have happened".