Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has insisted he had no intention of killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as he gave a graphic account of the night he shot her dead, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he woke up in the middle of the night.
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Prosecutor Gerrie Nel claimed Pistorius got up from bed, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before shooting Ms Steenkamp through a closed bathroom door.
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Mr Nell said it showed it was a premeditated murder, adding there was 'a motive to kill'.
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But in a statement Pistorius said he woke up to a sound in the bathroom believing it was an intruder and he felt vulnerable without his prosthetics.
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He said he screamed at the intruder before firing shots through a bathroom door. He then realised Miss Steenkamp was not in bed and it then dawned on him that 'it could be her in there'.
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Pistorius used a cricket bat to break open the bathroom door where she was slumped over in the toilet. He said she was still alive and called the paramedics before she died in his arms.
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Pistorius went on: 'I fail to understand how I could be charged with murder, let alone premeditated murder, as I did not plan to murder my girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.'
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The couple went to sleep shortly after 10pm, Pistorius said, but in the middle of the night he woke up and thought an intruder had climbed in through his bathroom window.
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He said he grabbed a 9mm pistol - which he kept under his bed after receiving death threats - and made his way in the darkness towards the bathroom door.
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'As I didn't have my prosthetic legs on I was vulnerable,' he said. 'I fired a shot at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to call the police.'
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The defendant described how he was 'absolutely mortified at the death of my beloved Reeva'.
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Pistorius began shaking and crying as his statement was read out, according to the South African Press Association.
His case is such a sad one. He did not start 2013 on a bright note at all....Too bad for him