TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to Detective Garda Colm Horkan today by his friends, family and colleagues after a man was found guilty of the capital murder of the detective yesterday. 

A friend of Garda Colm Horkan, John Hynes, spoke about his “exceptionally close friend” with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning. Hynes said that he and Garda Horkan had built up their bond working together over the decades.

Hynes met Colm Horkan in 1999 when he was the sergeant of Unit B in Castlerea, Co Roscommon. Hynes said, “He was put onto my unit… I knew from the very start that I had got a very, very good member. His attention to detail in every single thing he did was very obvious.”

The retired sergeant told Claire Byrne that he was “so, so lucky” to have met and had Garda Horkan in his unit. Hynes said they would spend a long time investigating cases together and through that got to know each other very well.

Yesterday, Steven Silver was found guilty of capital murder by a jury. On the verdict, Hynes said, “Colm is gone, it won’t bring Colm back. But it will certainly bring closure and especially with the verdict that the jury brought back.”

Speaking outside the Central Criminal Court yesterday,  Garda Horkan’s brother Brendan said the verdict gave their family closure and labelled his late brother as a “gentleman through and through”. Garda Horkan had 25 years of service and no disciplinary issues on his record.

Brendan Horkan added that the family was “horrified and shocked” to learn about the details of his brother’s death. “Colm was a fantastic son, brother, uncle and friend, and his memory remains etched in our minds every minute of every day.”

Hynes said that Garda Horkan was a “one of a kind”.

The kind of person that comes along once in a lifetime. I certainly will never ever meet anyone like him again.”

His family described him, similarly, on the first anniversary of his death, as a “proud, popular, respected member of An Garda Síochána who loved his job and wore the uniform with great pride while serving the community for over 25 years”.

John Hynes said that he spent the last 15 years of his career investigating child sexual assault cases: “Colm was involved in every single arrest and interview we carried out. Not everyone wanted to do it, but someone had to do it… So that was the driving force for both myself and Colm.”

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris described yesterday as a “sombre day, in particular for Colm Horkan’s family and friends, and for everybody in Colm’s wider Garda family” after the trail.

Commissioner Harris said, “Colm’s death reinforces to every member of An Garda Síochána the reality of the dangers and the uncertainty of the work that we face every day.

“I want to pay tribute to the Garda investigation team in Castlerea Garda station, supported by the wider Garda organisation, that professionally investigated all the circumstances of Colm’s murder,” he added.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris also shared his thoughts with the family of Garda Horkan and said his murder “reminded us of the risks the brave men and women of An Garda Síochána take every day”.

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Garda Horkan signed his weapon out on the afternoon of 17 June 2020, and later was shot 11 times with the same gun that evening by Stephen Silver. The court heard that Silver had a “seething resentment” towards gardaí and that the shooting was “a deliberate action done with the intent of murder”.

Minister Harris said, “Colm’s murder in June 2020 shocked us all. It stole from his family and friends a beloved, kind and gentle man who served with duty and distinction, keeping his community safe and serving the State.”

Silver told the court that he believed that Garda Horkan was attempting to kill him and admitted to shooting the Garda “until the gun finished and there was no ammunition left”.

After over eight hours of deliberation the jury found Stephen Silver, who has been on remand since his arrest in June 2020, guilty of the capital murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan.

Silver, who now faces a mandatory 40 years in prison, made no reaction to the verdict given by the jury. Following the verdict, Ms Justice Burns thanked the jury and excused them from jury service for the rest of their lives.