Oscar Pistorius trial: Prosecutor Gerrie Nel accuses athlete of using his emotions as an escape

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial in Pretoria has suggested the South African athlete is using his emotions “as an escape”.

Oscar Pistorius, 27, broke down in tears four times on Monday and has also vomited in court.

“Now you trying to be emotional and it’s not working,” said prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Oscar Pistorius admits killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year, but says he fired his gun after mistaking her for an intruder.

Gerrie Nel said Oscar Pistorius had deliberately shot Reeva Steenkamp after the couple had had an argument.

As the prosecutor resumed his cross-examination on Monday, he accused Oscar Pistorius of “tailoring his evidence” as he went along to suit the defense case, which had been “concocted”.

“Your version of events is untrue,” Gerrie Nel said.

Shortly before the case adjourned for the day, Gerrie Nel said: “You’re getting emotional now because you’re getting frustrated because your version [of events] is improbable.”

The prosecutor, known as “bull terrier” for his fierce style of questioning, then asked: “You’re not using your emotional state as an escape are you?”

Gerrie Nel spent much of the day trying to highlight apparent inconsistencies between Oscar Pistorius’ bail application and his evidence in court.

On one occasion, when Oscar Pistorius corrected Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor said this showed the athelte was a “stickler for detail” and yet on many aspects of the case, the athlete was being vague.

Earlier, Gerrie Nel again pressed Oscar Pistorius on the moment he shot Reeva Steenkamp.

The athlete said he had not intended to kill anyone.

“I fired out of fear,” he said.

This prompted Gerrie Nel to say Oscar Pistorius was changing his story from self-defense to saying he shot by accident.

The prosecutor said this was because the truth was: “You fired at Reeva.”

“It’s not true,” Oscar Pistorius replied, breaking into tears and prompting the court to briefly adjourn.

After the break, Gerrie Nel said that, as Oscar Pistorius was trained to use firearms, the court could not accept he had fired by “mistake”.

The prosecutor said the fact that a pair of Reeva Steenkamp’s jeans was lying on the bed showed that she was in the middle of getting dressed in order to leave Oscar Pistorius’ house when she was shot after the couple had argued in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.

This was denied by Oscar Pistorius.

The Paralympic champion also started sobbing as he recalled shouting at the burglars he thought were in his house.

When asked why he broke down, Oscar Pistorius said: “I am traumatized” by the events of that night.

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