'There are lonely nights at home without him': Colm Horkan's father reacts to Stephen Silver sentencing
After two trials at the Central Criminal Court, a jury found Stephen Silver guilty of capital murder last month. Picture Colin Keegan/ Collins
The sister of Garda Colm Horkan, who was shot eleven times with his own service gun, has told her brother's murderer that there is "no forgiveness" for what he did and she wants him to remember that every evening "as the cell door locks behind you".
Stephen Silver, 46, was today jailed for life with a minimum time to be served of 40 years.
Garda Horkan's family and friends packed the courtroom at the Criminal Courts of Justice building to hear the sentence being passed down. In statements read out to the court, Garda Horkan's family described him as a loving and thoughtful man who was "the one we always went to for advice".
His sister, Deirdre Horkan said: "If I knew this was going to happen I would never have loved him as much as I did. It’s been so difficult living without him, the best part of me died that night on that street with him."
Outside court, following the sentencing hearing, Garda Horkan's father Marty said: "It is great to be able to move forward now, it has been a tough few years. It's great to have it over and to have justice for Colm. That's what he deserved because he was a wonderful son."
He said the loss is immeasurable to the community and the local GAA club. "He worked everywhere for anybody that he could help at all times ... I miss him terribly. There are lonely nights at home without him. It's a sad house and it has been but at least we can go forward from today."
He said he doesn't have much to say to his son's killer other than that he is sorry for his mother. He added: "It took him two and a half years to apologise to my family ... I'd safely say he was advised by his legal team to do that, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. That's all I have to say about it."
He said the sentence handed to Silver was "justice for what he done. I hope he has to serve every day of it." He also commended the respect shown to himself and to gardaí by the court and from the general public. He said the family had received well wishes and cards from people in every county.
In court, Ms Justice Tara Burns offered her condolences to the Horkan family who, she said, were visibly traumatised by the tragic circumstances that led to the death of the "heart and soul" of their family. She also called on people suffering from mental health problems to recognise the importance of continuing their medical treatment in light of the evidence that Silver had stopped taking medication prescribed for his bipolar affective disorder when he shot Gda Horkan.
Ms Justice Burns said things "would have been very different" if he had maintained his treatment regime.
Passing sentence, the judge said that she has no discretion given that the jury had returned a verdict that Silver is guilty of murdering a member of the gardaí acting in the course of his duty. She sentenced him to life imprisonment and, in accordance with the Criminal Justice Act 1990, she specified that he must serve a minimum of 40 years in prison.
With ordinary remission for good behaviour, Silver will be eligible to apply for parole after he has served 30 years. Having gone into custody in June 2020, he will be aged 74 when he can first be considered for release by a parole board.
Silver, a motorbike mechanic from Aughaward, Foxford, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Det Garda Horkan, 49, knowing or being reckless as to whether he was a member of An Garda Siochana acting in the course of his duty. He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Castlerea, Co Roscommon on June 17, 2020, and the jury were told the main issue in the trial was Mr Silver’s state of mind at the time of the shooting.
Before the sentence was passed, prosecution counsel James Dwyer SC read out statements that had been written by Garda Horkan's father Marty, brother Dermot, sister Deirdre, and cousin Bosco Horkan.
Deirdre wrote that Colm was the eldest of seven siblings and "put a roof over our heads; he was like a second father". She said he "never imposed himself on us but he was the one we always went to for advice. I threw every problem to him like they were his to solve, and he did."
She said she "tortured him at times" but she adored him and he knew it. She acted as his "personal shopper and maid" and he was "always there for me. No matter what I did for him, he was always thankful."
She remembered him as always immaculately turned out and on the day he died he was no different in his perfectly ironed black pants and dress shirt.
In the year before his death, Deirdre said they "did loads together"; they went to the Galway races and to live concerts, and when covid hit they shared "a great few months" together. During lockdown, she said she would wake at 6am to talk to her brother while he ate breakfast because she would have nobody to talk to for the rest of the day.
In the evenings, she would "sit and talk to him as he ate dinner; little did I know how precious these moments were."
Garda Horkan loved his friends as much as his family and had a "great social life," she said, going skiing and attending Mayo football matches, playing golf, or going to the cinema. "Anything involving some craic, he was there," she said. "He had so much more living to do and he was robbed of so much."
The younger generation of the family is left with only memories of the man who used to share a cake with them for every birthday or who would kick a football with them on the lawn. "He loved Christmas and made it magical for the kids," she said.
The official garda funeral, she said, robbed Garda Horkan of the send-off he deserved and the family felt forgotten. Garda Horkan's friends watched the proceedings on a big screen at a GAA pitch while others, including a close cousin, watched from different countries without family to share the moment.
"The sadness of the family, in all corners of the globe, felt profound when we laid him to rest and they were not with us," Deirdre said.
She said that her brother had been murdered doing the job he loved.
Gda Horkan's father Marty Horkan said that he was "shocked and numbed" when he awoke to the news that his son had been shot dead in Castlerea. Hours earlier he had said goodbye to Colm after watching a horse race together.
He described Colm as a good son who was honest, reliable and "always there for me". He said he was left traumatised and hearing the "brutal and graphic details" of how Colm died.
He said he is a proud father and particularly proud of the stories told by others of how his son had helped them in a "quiet and unassuming way".
His death was a huge loss for the family, Marty said, but "also for those people he could have helped if he had lived".
The deceased's brother Dermot recalled going to see his brother's body and holding his hand. "I knew he was gone at that stage, I was lucky and unlucky to be there," he said.
He said the death has been "an awful loss to us all" and remembered his brother as someone who would give the best advice and guidance. "Even growing up, he would look out for you and mind you."
Bosco Horkan said Garda Horkan was his cousin and lifelong friend. "I had looked forward to spending a lot more of my later years with him. We spent many good and bad days in Croke Park watching Mayo and he was never one to hold back his feelings on the game."
He said that the community had lost an "incredible, caring and selfless human being", and added: "It still makes me so sad and angry at the futility of his murder. His loss is immeasurable."
Maurice Coffey SC, for Silver, read out a letter of apology from his client. Silver wrote that "words cannot convey how sorry I am for what happened." He said there is not a day that goes by that he does not think of it and regret it and said he knows what it feels like to grieve, having lost a stepson some years ago.
He added: "I never meant for anyone to get hurt, I was mentally unwell at the time and not in control of my actions." He said that his actions had caused Garda Horkan's death, adding: "For that I am sincerely sorry."
Ms Justice Tara Burns addressed the Horkan family and said she had noted their presence throughout the trial. She said their pain and suffering was "obvious" and said it is "not often I see a family as traumatised".
She added: "I can say that from sitting up here for many tragic cases before me, from the off in this case it was clear that the Horkan family have very deeply scarred themselves arising from the extremely tragic circumstances of the night in question."
She offered her condolences and said she hopes that the end of the trial process can "bring some form of ending" for the family and that while the family will never get over what happened, she hoped they would learn how to live with it.
"He clearly was the heart and soul of the family," she said.
She said it was an obviously tragic case and she wanted to emphasise the importance for people who have mental health difficulties of maintaining the treatment regime ordered by their doctors. Silver, she said, was involved with mental health services for a significant period of time and received top-class treatment for his bipolar disorder. He received advice, she said, that he did not take, and "that's something he has to live with for the rest of his life"
The sentence is backdated to June 19 when Silver first went into custody.
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