Read more
Oscar Pistorius arrives at court
Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius arrived at the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday morning ahead of final arguments in his trial.
FILE PICTURE: Paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrives at the high court in Pretoria for his murder trial on Wednesday, 16 April 2014. Pistorius says that he accidentally killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by firing through a closed toilet door, mistaking her for an intruder in his house before dawn on 14 February 2013. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA
Dressed in a black striped suit Pistorius jumped out of a white SUV parked in the street in front of the court at around 9.05am. He was flanked by three men and did not look at the media who greeted him.
School children, dressed in uniform, were standing nearby to see the Paralympic athlete. One girl turned to her friend and said “We missed him. Oscar passed”.
Pistorius’s sister Aimee arrived shortly after her brother.
Pistorius’s legal team, including Barry Roux and Kenny Oldwage, arrived shortly before 9am. Roux smiled at the media who asked him questions.
Other members of the Pistorius family, including his uncle Arnold, arrived around 9.10am.
Scores of journalists, photographers, and cameramen and women lined the entrance to the court. Some used step ladders to get a better view of the athlete arriving.
Police vehicles were parked outside court and officers kept an eye.
Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.
He shot her dead through the locked door of his toilet at his Pretoria home on February 14 last year.
Pistorius has denied guilt, saying he thought she was an intruder about to open the door and attack him. The State contends he shot her during an argument.
Thursday was the first time Steenkamp’s father Barry came to court with her mother June. June Steenkamp has attended most of the trial.
Steenkamp’s Johannesburg family the Myers were also in court.
Photographers took photos and filmed as both families arriving.
Four women dressed in African National Congress Women’s League attire arrived at court shortly before 9am.
TV outside broadcast vehicles were parked in the street opposite the court.
Final arguments will be heard on Thursday.
The State filed its final arguments on July 30, and the defence on Monday.
Pistorius is also charged with three contraventions of the Firearms Control Act, one of illegal possession of ammunition and two of discharging a firearm in public. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges as well.
– Sapa
