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Oscar denies firing through sunroof

Murder accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius never fired a shot through the open sunroof of a car, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Tuesday.


“That never happened,” he said while being led in giving evidence by his lawyer Barry Roux, SC, on the events of September 30, 2012.

State witnesses Samantha Taylor and Darren Fresco have both previously testified that Pistorius fired a shot through the open sunroof of a car while the three friends were driving back from a day at the Vaal.

Pistorius preceded his denial with a lengthy explanation of how the police stopped them twice, first for the car not having a front licence plate, and then for speeding. Fresco was driving.

When they were stopped for speeding, Pistorius, had his 9mm pistol with him on the front passenger seat. He got out of the car, leaving the gun on his seat.

“The police were very agitated. I didn’t want to approach the police with a firearm.”

He said a police officer shouted, asking whose gun was on the seat.

“I said to the policeman it is mine, please can I have it back. He was aggressive in his manner and dropped the magazine out of the firearm.”

The officer ejected a bullet out of the gun’s chamber.

“He then dropped the firearm on the seat. He lost his temper, lit a cigarette and walked away.”

Fresco previously told the court that Pistorius shouted at the officer not to touch another man’s gun.

Pistorius mentioned briefly that he was upset.

“I was agitated in my manner… I was angry that he handled my firearm.”

Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse on February 14 last year.

He shot her through the locked door of his toilet, saying later he mistook her for an intruder.

He is also charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.

The State alleged that he shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein on September 30, 2012.

Sapa