Oscar Pistorius murder charge: latest

Oscar Pistorius (left) awaits the start of court proceedings in the Pretoria Magistrates court while Reeva Steenkamp's funeral takes plac

Follow the latest developments as South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, appears in court today for a bail hearing.


Latest
13.40 The hearing at a magistrate's court in Pretoria will resume at 07.00 GMT (09.00 local time) to allow the prosecution time to study affidavits submitted by the defence.

13.01 Chief Foreign Correspondent David Blair has pulled together Pistorius's first account of how he shot Miss Steenkamp:
 On the night in question, Pistorius said that he had a 9mm handgun under the bed – a precaution that he normally took. Waking in the summer heat in the early hours of the morning, he went out to the balcony to get a fan.
The athlete had not attached his prosthetic limbs and was walking on his stumps. Suddenly he "heard a noise in the bathroom". Pistorius knew the bathroom window was open and that ladders were accessible nearby. He thought that intruders had entered the house.
"I screamed words to the effect of for him/her to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police," said Pistorius in his statement. "I thought Reeva was in the bed. I felt extremely vulnerable but I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself."
Pistorius then fired four shots through the bathroom door using his handgun. At that moment, he said that he was convinced the unseen target was an intruder. When he returned to the bedroom, he saw his mistake.
"I realised that Reeva was not in the bed," he said. "That's when it dawned on me it must have been Reeva in the toilet."
Oscar Pistorius stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl (centre) and father Henke (right) look on (
12.55 The magistrate has adjourned proceedings until Wednesday morning.
12.35 Aislinn Laing writes:
Court hearing from friends of the couple who say they saw nothing but deep affection and love between them. Oscar's friend Justin Divaris tells the court Oscar suggested Reeva was "The One." His girlfriend, Samantha Greyvenstein, said in a statement: "She said if he asked her to marry him,she would probably say yes."

Oscar Pistorius stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl (centre)

and father Henke (right) look on 

All eyes turn to Pistorius.He covers face with hands and weeps.
Oscar Pistorius's sister Aimee and brother Carl (Reuters)
12.23 Pistorius claims he fired shots at the lavatory door, thinking an intruder had climbed through the bathroom window. He said said he was "filled with horrible fear" that someone has sneaked into his home through an open window.
I fired shots at the door and shouted.
12.21 Aislinn Laing describes a chaotic scene at the South African courthouse:

12.08 Pistorius says he is "absolutely mortified" by the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp: "We were deeply in love and couldn't be more happy."
I had no intention to kill my girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
12.07 Pistorius says he had received death threats, so kept 9mm pistol under bed.
12.05 Aislinn Laing reports:
As Mr Pistorius' affadavit was read to the court by his lawyer, he began to sob audibly.
"Reeva and I were deeply in love and I could not have been happier. She felt the same," his statement read.
The lawyer stopped as the judge held up his hand. Every set of eyes in the court turned to Mr Pistorius weeping uncontrollably. "My compassion as a human being does not allow me to just sit here," the magistrate said.

Oscar Pistorius's sister Aimee and brother Carl 

As Mr Pistorius' brother Carl tried to calm him, the magistrate told him he must try to compose himself.
"I know it's difficult," he said. "You can't go back to the police station not understanding what has gone on here today," he said. "Do you understand?"
"Yes your worship," Mr Pistorius gulped.

12.01 Reeva Steenkamp's uncle, Mike, makes a tearful address to the media after her funeral:

11.59 The Telegraph's Aislinn Laing reports from court:
 Court C of Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court - the size of a tennis court - is crammed with an estimated more than 100 people including journalists. Court officials, lawyers and Mr Pistorius’ friends and family.
Journalists are seated on every spare inch of carpet space - under the stenographer’s and lawyers’ desks, alongside the wooden benches of the public gallery, as well as wedged alongside the entrance doors. The temperture in Pretoria today is 26 degrees and quite humid, inside the court it feels like double that.
The only empty space in the room surrounds potentially the best-known defendant ever to be seen in this shabby town centre courtroom.
Oscar Pistorius did his best when he first walked in this morning to maintain the composture he so visibly lacked during his first hearing last week. Straight-backed, dressed in a navy suit, blue shirt and navy satin tie, the only sign of his inner turmoil was the strain of muscles at his temple and jaw as he sought to keep his calm.

As before however, it deserted him the moment the word “murder” was mentioned. By the time the magistrate ruled that he should face a premeditated murder charge, all composure was gone.
As the morning’s gone on, he has spent the time weeping quietly, shoulders shaking, fists clenched with the effort of keeping his sobs to himself.
His father Henke and brother Carl behind him have leant forward several times, as though to comfort him but unable to reach.
Oscar Pistorius's father Henke awaits the start of court proceedings in the Pretoria Magistrates court (Reuters)
11.30 The court has adjourned for lunch.
11.27 It has emerged that Pistorius had his initial application for a firearm licence rejected.
The 27-year-old requested a licence for a 9mm firearm in 2008, but Beeld reported that this was initially rejected.
He was apparently granted a licence in 2010 and the weapon is the one he allegedly used to kill girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home last week.
He has six other pending applications for firearm licences, reported the Afrikaans daily.
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, appears in court today for a bail hearing
11.20 Pistorius's endorsements and sponsorships, which include sportswear giant Nike, British telecoms firm BT, sunglasses maker Oakley and French designer Thierry Mugler, were thought to be worth as much as $2 million a year.
Nike said on Monday it had dropped Pistorius from any future advertising campaigns. Other sponsors have said they will make no decisions until the legal process has run its course.
Eyewear maker Oakley has reportedly suspended his contract.
10.36 Aislinn Laing tweets:

Oscar Pistorius's father Henke awaits the start of court 

proceedings in the Pretoria Magistrates court

10.30 Defence lawyer Barry Roux disputed the murder charge, saying the facts surrounding the shooting were unclear:
All we really know is she locked herself behind the toilet door and she was shot.
Reeva Steenkamp's father Barry (2L) arrives at the crematorium building in Port Elizabeth for the models funeral
10.22 The Telegraph's Aislinn Laing tweets from court:

10.10 Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has painted a picture of premeditated killing - a crime that carries a life sentence in South Africa:
If I arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated.
The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven metres and I kill.
The motive is 'I want to kill'. That's it.
09.35 Back in the court in Pretoria, Barry Roux, a member of Pistorius's defence team said:
We submit it's not even a murder. There's no concession that it's murder.
09.33 Gavin Venter, an ex-jockey who worked with Mis Steenkamp's race horse trainer father said: "She was an angel."
Venter said there had been no indication that the glamorous model was troubled in her relationship with the double-amputee athlete known as "Blade Runner".
"I asked her father, her father said no, she was very happy with Oscar, there was no problems, but maybe she was just hiding it away," he told journalists.
Venter said he believed Pistorius, who has been accused of premeditated murder, should be denied bail.
"I'm disgusted and he must be dealt with harshly," he said.

Reeva Steenkamp's father Barry (2L) arrives at the crematorium

 building in Port Elizabeth for the models funeral

"He's a danger to the public. He'll be a danger to witnesses, he must stay in jail, they mustn't release him."
One of Steenkamp's classmates at a local private Catholic school, Bongiwe Gaxambaa, said she would remember her friend's smile, the way she got along with people, and her love and warmth for others.
"It's kind of only sinking in now that I'm actually here, that she's really gone."

"I wouldn't like him to get bail, just for justice to take its course," she said of Pistorius.
The order of service for Reeva Steenkamp's funeral in Port Elizabeth
09.27 There are emotional scenes outside the Port Elizabeth chapel for the funeral of Miss Steenkamp.

Gareth Wilson, of the Port Elizabeth Herald reports:
Many of the friends and family were tearful as they entered the chapel, which is a private service. It is in a quiet area of the city, close to where Miss Steenkamp grew up.
It is a windy and overcast day
09.19 Gareth Wilson, of the Port Elizabeth Herald, reports that family and friends - including Francois Hougaard have started entering the chapel in Port Elizabeth.
Springboks rugby player Francois Hougaard arrives at the memorial service for model Reeva Steenkamp at the Victoria Park Crematorium in Port Elizabeth
09.16 Francois Hougaard, the South African rugby player, is at Miss Steenkamp's funeral. A message from Hougaard on the model's iPad reportedly sparked a row between Pistorius and Miss Steenkamp hours before she was shot dead.
08.41 The 26-year-old defendant, making his second court appearance over the killing, appeared in the dock in a black suit, blue shirt and grey tie and stared straight ahead anxiously, sometimes mumbling under his breath.

Steenkamp, 29, who was shot four times in the early hours of Thursday by a 9mm pistol owned by the sprinter, is due to be laid to rest at a private ceremony in her hometown of Port Elizabeth later Tuesday.
08.23 As expected, Pistorius's defence lawyer says the killing was not murder.
Oscar Pistorius's brother Carl and sister Aimee arriving at the Pretoria Magistrate Court
08.20 State prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs, walked seven metres and fired three shots through a locked bathroom door at girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

08.15 Pistorius warned about lying about past offences:

08.12 As on Friday, Pistorius was reportedly sobbing, head in hands, when murder charge read:

08.04 Pistorius told his sister he mistook Miss Steenkamp for an intruder, prosecutors state.

08.00 Prosecutors say Pistorius fired four shots. Miss Steenkamp was hit by three shots through the bathrrom door, they charge.

07.57 After his tearful first court appearance on Friday, Pistorius has broken down again immediately after being charged with murder.

07.56 The 26-year-old Pistorius appears in the dock at the Pretoria court in a black suit, blue shirt and grey tie and stared straight ahead anxiously.

07.55 A picture has been tweeted of the ANC Women's League protesting outside court: