Mick Clifford: Defective pistol holsters a smoking gun for An Garda Síochána

Irish Examiner

15 hours ago

The shooting accident occurred on June 11, 2020. The detective involved was from the special detective unit. He had been assigned to the Israeli ambassador's residence on routine protective work.
At around 4.30pm, his gun was accidentally discharged. He suffered injuries to his lower body that were significant but not life-threatening.
It then emerged that concerns had been expressed in An Garda Síochána about holsters issued to armed members before the detective shot himself.
When Detective Garda Colm Horkan was murdered with his own weapon a week later, these concerns were elevated and multiplied.
An issue arose immediately as to whether or not the accident was in any way attributable to the quality of the holster the detective was wearing.
There had been mumblings among some armed gardaí about the holster.
A batch of these holsters had been acquired from a saddlery in the east of the country.
The leather material was softer, and a safety feature that was part of the previous issued holster was off-centre and didn't cover the handle of the firearm.
As a result, the firearm could be grabbed from within the holster by somebody else or, in some instances, the firearm could fall out of the holster.
On the day after the incident outside the embassy, the detective's firearm, hip holster, magazines, and loose and spent rounds were delivered to the Garda National Technical Bureau for forensic examination.
This is standard practice. The bureau routinely examines firearms and ammunition in criminal investigations. It has accredited testing and calibration laboratories that have achieved the IOS 17025 standard.
The Garda Technical Bureau examines firearms and ammunition in criminal investigations. Picture: Colin Keegan
When that was awarded in 2016, then commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan noted that 'achieving accreditation to this standard means that the Garda Technical Bureau is providing a high quality forensic investigation service to An Garda Síochána, the Criminal Justice System, and the public. This will help improve and ensure trust among the public in the criminal justice system'.
So it was that the holster and other items were examined in conditions conforming to the highest standard.
The ambassador residence incident occurred at least a year after a protected disclosure had been made over concerns about the holsters, among other issues.
Included in that protected disclosure was an allegation about the method and reason for procuring the supplier of the controversial holster.
There were also fears expressed about the safety of the holsters.
Concerns were expressed elsewhere, including from the firearms training unit within the force and the corresponding unit in the training college in Templemore.
On June 16, five days after the accidental shooting, an email was sent between officers from these respective units.
'As you are aware this issue was raised before with [another officer] about this particular make of holsters and pouch,' the mail read.
'This softer style was supposed in both Sig and Wather [makes of firearms] configuration. It proved dangerous… I concur with your recommendation that this make of holster and pouch should be withdrawn for safety reasons.'
The following day, just before midnight on June 17, Det Garda Horkan stopped a man on a motorbike in the centre of Castlerea, Co Roscommon.
The man, Stephen Silver, was apparently driving erratically.
Just after the garda approached him, a struggle ensued.
Det Garda Horkan's official firearm came loose from its holster and Silver managed to get his hands on it.
He fired up to 15 shots, at least four of which hit Det Garda Horkan, killing him.
Silver then waited until gardaí arrived on the scene five minutes later.
He is now serving a life sentence for murder.
Stephen Silver is serving a life sentence for the murder of Det Garda Colm Horkan. Picture: Colin Keegan
Det Garda Horkan's holster was one of those acquired from the saddlery in Kildare.
Early the following morning, a detective from the technical bureau examined the murder scene.
He put the holster in a bag and tagged it as exhibit DOL2(a).
For whatever reason, that holster was not sent to the bureau for examination.
This was highly unusual.
Following every shooting incident, it is the technical bureau, with its access to the IOS standard lab and practices, that is charged with conduction ballistic and associated investigations.
Not in this case.
Instead, the holster — but not the firearm or ammunition — was sent to another senior garda with an instruction to have it tested for serviceability.
The reason for this is entirely unclear.
This officer did pass it on to a sergeant who had experience with firearms training but was not an expert in either ballistics or firearms.
A Garda spokesperson said the holster was tested by Forensic Science Ireland.
The murder of Det Garda Horkan, in an incident where his attacker got access to his firearm, raised further concerns in sections of An Garda Síochána.
One piece of correspondence from a senior officer is dated June 22, five days after the murder.
'Prior to the murder of Det Garda Horkan, the sergeants attached to firearms training were looking into problems with the official issue leather holster and magazine pouch.
"I feel this now needs to be acted upon as a matter of urgency; I believe the issue had been flagged earlier and remedial work was carried out on the holster in order to make it more durable.
"However, the problem still exists in that when weapons are being holstered, the leather gathers under the trigger guard and there is potential for an unintended discharge.'
That letter was accompanied by further correspondence from officers in the firearms training unit recommending that 'these holsters and magazine pouches be removed from service on health and safety grounds'.
Apart from all that, the technical bureau did its testing of the holster as per usual in the wake of the accidental shooting at the ambassador's residence.
The murder of Detective Garda Horkan, in an incident where his attacker got access to his firearm, raised further concerns in sections of An Garda Síochána. Picture: Denis Minihane
The results, while entirely removed from, and independent of, the correspondence referenced above, largely agreed with the conclusions that the holsters were dangerous.
On March 4, Labour TD Alan Kelly, who has followed this story closely, read out in the Dáil what he said were the conclusions of the technical bureau examination.
'It was discovered by forensic experts attached to the Garda National Technical Bureau that the leather pistol holster issued to the member was so dangerously defective, the holster could actually engage the trigger and fire the weapon of its own accord,' Mr Kelly told the House.
'It was further identified by the ballistic experts, who operate under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, which is the legal requirement for all forensic laboratories, that the holster was so poorly designed, the firearm could be removed from the holster with so-called retention strap fully fastened.
'This left the gun open to removal by individuals other than the Garda member carrying the firearm. This critical health and safety risk later became the subject of a warning notice from the acting head of the Garda National Technical Bureau, given the very real concerns for the safety of Garda members.'
The investigation of the holster's safety was a damning indictment.
It concurred with the opinions generated in the firearms unit and the training college.
In addition, and again entirely separately, the protected disclosure made in 2019 raised very similar concerns.
If all of this was found to be factually and forensically accurate, it would represent a major scandal for An Garda Síochána.
Bad enough that one garda had accidently shot himself.
If defective equipment, about which fears had been expressed, contributed to a dangerous individual getting his hands on the member's weapon and murdering him, there would be a huge scandal.
Such a scenario would not just invoke controversy among the public and the political class.
Crucially, it would in all likelihood spark outrage internally within An Garda Síochána.
However, the forensic examinations and opinions of experts were not the final word on the holsters' safety.
As stated above, Det Garda Horkan's holster was dispatched to a senior officer who gave it onto a sergeant in his division who had experience in firearms training.
He did not have access to the kind of laboratory conditions used in the technical bureau.
He compiled a report suggesting that while the holster was not ideal, neither did it represent any danger to officers using it.
This was contrary to the opinions expressed by others, as seen above, involved in firearms training.
There was one more opinion or conclusion to throw into the mix.
After the technical bureau returned its damning verdict on the examination of the holster in the ambassador residence accidental shooting, something unusual occurred.
It was ordered from the upper echelons of the force that a second report be compiled.
This was to be done by personnel in the Garda armoury, the unit that stores weapons, and the same unit that entered into a contract to acquire the holsters from the Kildare saddlery.
No criticism
The Irish Examiner understands that no criticism was ever made of the technical bureau's examination of the holster.
Neither was there any suggesting that any individual officer in the bureau had erred, had any kind of conflict of interest, had done anything other than their professional duty, as per every other incident that they examined.
Yet a second report was ordered. This was to be conducted by a unit that arguably was open to, at the very least, a perception of a conflict of interest.
There is no reason to believe that this second report was conducted other than with the utmost integrity.
In any event, the outcome was an opinion that the leather in the holster was more malleable than the model previously used, and there was an issue with a part of the stitching.
Neither of these factors would render the holster dangerous in the manner that had been expressed by the technical bureau's examination or the opinions offered by personnel in the firearms training unit.
There was now, within the force, a stark conflict of opinions on the safety of a holster that was used by officers involved in two shootings, one fatal.
It would have been open to management within the force to seek an external expert opinion.
If they were not happy with the result from the technical bureau, there was nothing to stop sending the holster to its equivalent unit in the PSNI, or one of the British policing divisions. That was not done.
The holster was withdrawn later in 2020.
In 2023, Mr Harris confirmed to then minister for justice Helen McEntee that all of the holsters in question had been withdrawn and shredded beyond use.
Last Thursday, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee heard that the contract for the holsters was valued at €500,000.
Two postscripts to the matter that threw up other questions.
A senior officer was appointed to investigate the protected disclosures made by the garda back in 2019.
As part of the investigation, this officer required expert opinion on the holster.
The Irish Examiner understands the officer was referred to the sergeant who had compiled the report on Det Garda Horkan's holster, the report that, to a large extent, gave the equipment the all-clear.
Later again, the State Claims Agency, which oversees legal actions against state bodies like An Garda Síochána, wanted an opinion on the holster.
Independent investigation call
Again, it was referred to the same sergeant.
A very simple question raises its head once more. Why, in both these cases, not to mind following Det Garda Horkan's murder, was the equipment not referred to the recognised authority on these matters, the technical bureau?
Mr Kelly says that the whole issue around the holsters requires urgent independent investigation.
Labour TD Alan Kelly says that the whole issue around the holsters requires urgent independent investigation. Picture: Stephen Collins
'I have been raising the issue of defective leather pistol holsters on issue to Garda members, for months now,' he said.
'I believe the safety of Garda members was put at risk.
"Furthermore, it is abundantly clear that the concerns of those who spoke up about these defective leather pistol holsters were not welcome at the highest levels in An Garda Síochána.
"Those who attempted to push this issue up the reporting structure to safeguard their colleagues have been treated appallingly.
"This significant issue isn't going to go away for justice minister Jim O'Callaghan. He needs to address it and he needs to do so immediately.
"There's no point in sticking his head in the sand and hoping it will go away. It won't.'
A spokesperson for the Garda ombudsman Fiosrú said it cannot comment on anything to do with protected disclosures.
A series of questions were submitted to the Garda press office.
Each question, in general terms, received a response that An Garda Síochána would not or could not comment on the particulars.
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