A garda whistleblower warned management and the Garda watchdog that gun holsters used by officers were ‘not fit for purpose’ before tragedies that led to the death of Detective Colm Horkan and left another with life-changing injuries.
In separate protected disclosures to Garda management and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Office (GSOC) in 2019, nine months before Detective Horkan’s murder, the whistleblower raised safety concerns about Garda HQ-issued holsters with automatic pistols used by armed detectives. Holsters specifically designed for the 9mm Sig Sauer P226 and Walther guns make it impossible for an assailant to take the weapons or for them to fire accidentally.
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The year after the whistleblower made his initial two protected disclosures, on June 17, 2020, Detective Colm Horkan was murdered in the line of duty when his killer took his Sig Sauer from his holster and fired 15 rounds, hitting him up to 11 times. Detective Horkan’s killer was convicted of capital murder this year.
Just six days before the murder, on June 11, another detective garda on protective duty outside the Israeli Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, sustained ‘life-changing’ injuries to his groin when his Walther pistol discharged accidentally.
Both officers were carrying their pistols in leather holsters made by an another supplier that the whistleblower – a firearms expert – claimed in his protected disclosures...
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