Family of murdered garda Colm Horkan is sent whistleblower’s claims over gun holsters

Testimony from a garda whistleblower outlining concerns about holsters for garda-issued firearms, which was submitted a year before the murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan, has been passed to the late officer’s family.

As revealed in this newspaper in January, Det Gda Horkan’s family wrote to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris two months ago, asking questions about the quality of the holster was wearing when he was disarmed and shot dead on June 11, 2020 by Stephen Silver.

In March last year, Silver was found guilty of the capital murder of Det Gda Horkan in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, and sentenced to life in prison.

In recent days, a solicitor representing the whistleblower wrote to the late garda’s family through their legal team, passing on his client’s protected disclosure.

This testimony outlines a series of allegations over the procurement and standard of garda holsters and was also sent to Garda HQ a year before the murder of Det Gda Horkan.

The solicitor, who is representing the whistleblower in a separate legal matter, confirmed his client’s testimony has been forwarded to the Horkan family.

Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law in Belfast, said: “We represent a person who presents as a whistleblower. He has made previous disclosures on sensitive matters that touch upon similar issues raised in relation to the holster issue in the Colm Horkan case.”

Det Gda Horkan’s family previously confirmed they had instructed their legal representative to write to the commissioner on their behalf with a series of questions about the holster.

Lawyers representing Silver have lodged notice of their intention to appeal his conviction.

Solicitor Phelim O’Neill, a partner at Harringtons LLP in Dublin, declined to comment when asked if any potential issue over the garda’s holster formed a basis for Silver’s appeal.

​In November, Mr Harris confirmed that a new safety gun holster was introduced following Det Gda Horkan’s murder. He told the Oireachtas Justice Committee this was done to make it more difficult to remove a firearm from the previously used thumb-break holster.

Six days before the detective was murdered, another detective garda on protective duty outside the Israeli embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, sustained injuries to his thigh when his Walther pistol discharged accidentally.

Both Det Gda Horkan and the embassy protection officer were carrying their pistols in the same garda-issue leather holsters, which have now been withdrawn.

The detective who accidentally shot himself is suing the force.

The Sunday Independent understands his legal team are seeking to establish if his holster was not of the required standard.

The incident was referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).

At the beginning of last year, the garda watchdog outlined a number of concerns over the holsters in the wake of the incident outside the embassy.

It is also understood that a report from the Garda Technical Bureau found that because of degeneration in the quality of the leather holster, the officer’s pistol could be dislodged and accidentally discharged.

A protected disclosure was submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General in late 2022, alleging hundreds of sub-standard holsters had been bought by the Firearms Unit at Garda HQ.

The disclosure, understood to run to more than 80 pages, makes a series of allegations concerning the previous procurement of holsters for SIG Sauer pistols, as well as claims that the specialist unit failed to store weapons correctly.

It is alleged that a senior garda had an “inappropriate relationship” with a vendor who was hired to procure the holsters. This company no longer provides the force with holsters for SIG Sauer pistols.

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