Pistorius takes the stand: Live Report

Pistorius takes the stand: Live Report

13:10 GMT - AFP IS CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT for the day after Oscar Pistorius took the witness stand for the first time at his murder trial in Pretoria.

Join us again at 07:30 GMT tomorrow when the 27-year-old Paralympian is expected to give his account about the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013.

Here are the key points from Pistorius's testimony on Monday:

- Pistorius began by turning to face Reeva Steenkamp's mother June sitting in the front row of the public gallery and apologizing for causing the family pain.

"I was simply trying to protect Reeva," he said, "I promise that when she went to bed that night, she felt loved."

- Pistorius said he had nightmares about the shooting, sometimes struggling to sleep, and was using anti-depressants.

"I've had terrible nightmares," he said. "I wake up at night smelling blood."

- Defence lawyer Barry Roux attempted to paint Pistorius as a good samaritan and devout Christian.

"Through this past year there have been times where I've just been struggling a lot," said Pistorius, his voice breaking. "My God's a God of refuge."

- Pistorius described his past experiences with crime, as the defence sought to portray him as feeling extremely vulnerable and in fear of intruders coming into his house.

"When I grew up we were exposed to crime," said Pistorius, including "housebreakings, family members being assaulted and hi-jacked."

- Roux outlined the defence's case, saying he will call 14 to 17 witnesses who will testify on ballistics, urine emptying, damage to the toilet door, sound, and "disability and vulnerability."

Scroll down to read how Pistorius's testimony unfolded at North Gauteng High Court.

12:59 GMT - Hug - Pistorius's brother Carl and sister Aimee rush to the witness stand to hug him after his first day of giving testimony, AFP's Stephanie Findlay reports.

Pistorius, whose face is red, talks with his Uncle Arnold while his sister Aimee rubs his back.

On the other side of the courtroom, Barry Roux smiles and cracks jokes with fellow defence lawyer Kenny Oldwage.

12:53 GMT - Exhausted - "Well he does look exhausted, he sounds exhausted," says Judge Thokolize Masipa of Pistorius, granting the defence an adjournment.

COURT ADJOURNED

12:51 GMT - 'God of refuge' - Pistorius becomes emotional again while he testifies about his faith, AFP's Johannes Myrburgh reports.

"My religion is very important to me," he says, speaking of his mother's strong belief in God while they were children.

"When my mother passed away I struggled a bit with my faith but I always knew the Lord was part of my life."

In 2012 he experienced a revival in his faith, he says.

"I put a lot of faith in the Lord to be where I wanted to be."

Steenkamp's faith was a "blessing", he said as his voice faltered again.

"I always wanted a partner who is a Christian. She was a very strong Christian.

"We would pray at night."

After the shooting this strong faith continued.

"Through this part year there have been times where I've just been struggling a lot," he said, his voice breaking.

"My God's a God of refuge," he adds, barely audible.

12:47 GMT - 'Bowled over' - Pistorius on Reeva Steenkamp:

"I was bowled over by how much I felt for her, I thought about buying a house in Johannesburg, I had been for some time," Pistorius tells the court.

The athlete sits with his fingers interlaced on the witness stand, speaking in a clear voice.

12:45 GMT - Breaking up testimony - "From the start of Pistorius's testimony the defence has taken a lot of time to create a picture of his psychology, especially traumatic past experiences that have made him fearful of and vulnerable to crime and his own mortality," AFP's Johannes Myburgh writes from the court.

"The testimony after lunch focused on his interactions with violent crime, which he described in detail.

"Since the session after lunch lasts only one hour, it is likely today will finish without him testifiying on the actual crime he is charged with.

"This may be a tactic of the defence to break Pistorius's testimony into manageable bits so it's easier for him. At this rate the court will only hear about Steenkamp's shooting by Tuesday, which will be the toughest for him."

12:39 GMT - Good citizen? - Defence lawyer Barry Roux is highlighting incidents that paint Pistorius as a good citizen.

Pistorius describes how he intervened after seeing a man being attacked in the street.

"They started beating him with rocks in the face, at that point I jumped the lights," Pistorius tells the court.

"I drew my firearm, pointed it at three people, they jumped into the taxi and sped off."

Pistorius said he then helped the man who had been attacked.

"Sir, you need to sit down, you're bleeding. I picked him up and I forced him to sit down."

12:27 GMT - Exposed to crime - Pistorius says he experienced a number of criminal incidents when he was younger, AFP's Johannes Myburgh reports.

"When I grew up we were exposed to crime -- housebreakings, family members being assaulted and hi-jacked," the athlete tells the court.

When Pistorius was a young boy burglars had broken into his father's house in Johannesburg, leaving the building ransacked with blood smears where one of the intruders cut his hand.

"My home has been broken into in 2005," Pistorius says.

The defence earlier sketched the culture of violent crime in South Africa, possibly in support of Pistorius's argument that he shot at the locked toilet door out of fear for an intruder.

12:18 GMT - 'Dagga' - Referring again to the 2009 Vaal River speedboat incident, Pistorius denies he was drunk, AFP's Stephanie Findlay reports.

"I remember having one drink, I wasn't intoxicated," Pistorius tells the court.

Pistorius admits to smoking cannabis on one occasion, referring to it by its South African slang term 'dagga':

"When my mother passed away I smoked dagga with a friend... besides that I haven't taken any substances."

12:08 GMT - More collected - "Pistorius returned to the stand much more collected after lunch," AFP's Johannes Myburgh reports.

"He sat leaning forward with his hands folded, speaking in a subdued voice and sometimes making slight gestures."

12:06 GMT - BACK IN SESSION - The court in Pretoria is back in session after the break for lunch, AFP's Andrew Beatty reports.

11:45 GMT - 'Vulnerable to bullying' - "It's clear from Pistorius's early testimony that the defence wants to show his behaviour on February 14, 2013 -- which may seem trigger-happy to many -- was in large part determined by his life experiences," writes AFP's southern Africa news editor Andrew Beatty.

"He sketched out what it was like growing up disabled and without his father, making him vulnerable to bullying and leading his mother to keep a gun at home.

"Even a serious boating accident much later was shown as evidence that he has a heightened concern about death.

"All this is in stark contrast to the prosecution's portrayal of Pistorius as gun-crazed and obsessed with fast cars and beautiful women."

11:38 GMT - 'Raw emotion' - "Harrowing Pistorius testimony from court. No matter your feelings about his story, difficult to withstand raw emotion going round. ," AFP reporter Johannes Myburgh writes from Pretoria via his Twitter account.

11:31 GMT - ANC Women's League - Detail from AFP reporter Stephanie Findlay in the high court in Pretoria -- Reeva Steenkamp's mother has been flanked by members of the ANC Women's League, a faction of the ruling party protesting violence against women.

"The women's league, identifiable by their bright green jackets, dotted the Steenkamp bench, a conspicuous presence in a country that suffers from abnormally high rates of domestic violence," Findlay reports.

11:15 GMT - Vaal River accident - Before the court adjourned for lunch, Pistorius recounted an accident he had in a speedboat on the Vaal River in 2009 and the psychological impact it had on him, AFP's Sibongile Khumalo reports.

"I just remember the sound of the propeller going into the air, the sound of the engine…," Pistorius said.

"The boat was half full of water. At that point I realised most of my face had been smashed in.

"I remember waking up. My face was very hot.

"The accident had a massive impact on me - I became fearful, quite withdrawn.

"I remember reading in the media, people joking about it saying I was drinking. I wasn't drinking."

ADJOURNED FOR LUNCH

11:02 GMT - Balance on stumps - Pistorius explains to the court his difficulty standing upright on the stumps of his legs, AFP's Sibongile Khumalo reports.

"I don't have balance on my stumps, I can't stand still on them, because I don't have balance," Pistorius says.

"I seldom have time when I'm not wearing my prosthetic legs.

"I always put my prosthetic legs next to my bed and wear them in the morning ...I always wear them.

"I can stand on them, but can't stand still."

10:53 GMT - 'Terrible nightmares' - More of the apology from Pistorius to the Steenkamp family, Stephanie Findlay reports.

"I tried to put my words on paper to write to you but no words can ever suffice," Pistorius said.

The athlete went on to recount the nightmares he has had about the night of the shooting.

"I've had terrible nightmares about the things that happen at night," he said.

"I wake up at night smelling blood."

10:46 GMT - Struggle - Pistorius goes on to recount his struggles balancing his athletics and academic work, AFP's Stephanie Findlay reports.

"I enjoyed athletics, I started in my first year, I got a bursary at the University of Pretoria," Pistorius tells the court.

"I got offered [the chance] to run internationally for South Africa.

"But I wasn't making my classes, I was struggling to balance academics and sports.

"It was pretty much clear I had to make a decision if I wanted to do this I had to make a living out of it.

"I tried to turn professional at that point - there wasn't much money in Paralympic sport at the time, so it was a bit of a struggle."

Pistorius started running in able-bodied competitions in 2007, Findlay notes.

10:42 GMT - High school - Pistorius moves on to recounting his days at high school, AFP's Andrew Beatty reports.

"I wasn't a part of any specific group, I had friends that were very talented in sport and other friends who were very gifted academically.

"I did rugby and water polo and then at a later stage I moved over to athletics."

10:39 GMT - Pistol - "My mother had a pistol…," Pistorius tells the court.

"She kept her firearm in a padded bag under her pillow."

10:32 GMT - Security concerns - "I want to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr and Mrs Steenkamp," Pistorius tells the court.

"I was trying to protect Reeva, I want people to know that she was loved when she went to bed that night."

The athlete explains his fears about security date back to his childhood.

"My mother had a lot of security concerns, we grew up in a family where my father wasn't around much," says Pistorius.

"She would often get scared at night, she would phone the police."

10:26 GMT - Depression - Reeva Steenkamp's mother June, flanked by other relatives, sat stony-faced during the apology from Pistorius, writes AFP's Johannes Myburgh from the court.

The only people showing reaction were the Pistorius family.

The Paralympian stood to make his apology and testify about his problems sleeping and depression.

He sat down to talk about his childhood, his hands folded over the handkerchief, sometimes shaking slightly. Hunched a bit forward, he watched defence lawyer Barry Roux while answering his questions.

10:23 GMT - Pistorius apology - Pistorius, stony-faced, holds a white kerchief in his hands as Barry Roux asks him his first questions, reports AFP's Stephanie Findlay from the court.

Pistorius is stammering, his jaw trembling as he gives an apology to Reeva Steenkamp's mother June.

A woman sitting with his family shakes her head in affirmation, encouraging Pistorius, as he gives a warbling apology to the Steenkamp family.

10:18 GMT - "So help me God" - "Thank you milady, I call Mr. Pistorius," defence lawyer Barry Roux tells the court, writes AFP reporter Johannes Myburgh.

Pistorius makes his way slowly from the dock, around the cubicle door, into the witness stand. Mouth drawn, he carries a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.

"So help me God."

10:10 GMT - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT as star Paralympian Oscar Pistorius takes the stand for the first time as his murder trial resumes in Pretoria under the glare of the world's media.

The 27-year-old athlete is set to give his first account of why he shot dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013.

Lawyers began their defence case this morning and opened with the testimony of a forensic pathologist.

Judge Thokozile Masipa adjourned the trial a week ago after one of her assessors, a judicial assistant, fell ill.

Barry Roux called former state pathologist Jan Botha, who has carried out about 25,000 autopsies, to testify at the start of what is expected to be the first week of defence testimony.

Roux said he will call 14 to 17 witnesses in his case to testify on ballistics, urine emptying, damage to the toilet door, sound, and "disability and vulnerability."

Pistorius, who denies murder, has to explain why he fired four shots at Steenkamp through a locked toilet door at his home. He claims he mistook here for an intruder.

Stay with us for updates on all the key developments from North Gauteng High Court.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT