Oscar Pistorius murder trial adjourns
Moments after distraught paralympian Oscar Pistorius had composed himself, his murder trial was adjourned by the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Double amputee and Paralympain Oscar Pistorius appears in the North Gauteng High court in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, 3 March 2014. Pistorius is accused of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013. He faces two charges; murder and contravention of the Firearms Control Act. Photo by Herman Verwey/POOL
“We’ll adjourn until 9.30 tomorrow [Wednesday] morning,” Judge Thokozile Masipa said seconds after the court had sat down again.
Barry Roux, for Pistorius, made the request after the athlete broke down into uncontrollable sobbing, which caused the court to adjourn.
His sister Aimee and other relatives led him out of court GD through a side entrance.
After he came back, Roux said he could not “responsibly ask the court to continue”.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel had no objection.
Pistorius had been testifying about how he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria townhouse on February 14 last year, apparently believing she was an intruder.
Pistorius is accused of murdering Steenkamp.
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.
On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
He has also denied guilt on these two charges.
– Sapa
