Murder accused Stephen Silver’s behaviour was bizarre and inappropriate and he did not seem to grasp the gravity of the situation he found himself in after he shot and killed Gda Colm Horkan, a psychiatrist has told the Central Criminal Court.
Dr Brenda Wright, a consultant psychiatrist with the Central Mental Hospital, told Mr Silver’s trial that the accused's aggression and hostility towards investigating gardai, grandiose ideas and disinhibited behaviour were possible symptoms of an abnormal mental state or a manic mental state.
She said she watched DVDs of Mr Silver's interviews with gardai in which he claimed to be a captain in the 62nd Cavalry of the Connaught Rangers, warned a detective to “sit down before you’re put down” and described Gda Horkan as a “little dirtbag that got shot with his own fucking gun”.
Read More : Dad of murdered Nicola Furlong says pain he is suffering as bad as when she died
She said such behaviours during interviews and other behaviour noted by gardai and a doctor on the day of the shooting were bizarre and inappropriate to the situation he was in. His aggression and hostility, she said, did not reflect the behaviour of gardai who acted appropriately throughout.
As part of her report, which she will continue explaining to the jury tomorrow, she said she considered all of his behaviours and his background of bipolar disorder with 17 psychiatric admissions dating back to 1997.
