Pistorius takes stand as defence case opens

Pistorius sobbed loudly in court as Steenkamp's injuries were described

Oscar Pistorius has taken the stand at the start of the defence case at his murder trial in South Africa.

He began his evidence with an apology to Reeva Steenkamp’s family, saying he was “simply trying to protect” her.

Pistorius is expected to tell the court how and why he shot his girlfriend.

Prosecutors say he killed her in February 2013 after an argument. He denies shooting her deliberately, saying he mistook her for an intruder.

The trial in Pretoria was postponed after one of the assessors assisting the judge fell ill.

Under South African law, there is no jury system and two assessors, normally lawyers or retired magistrates, help the judge reach a decision in serious cases.

Defence lawyer Barry 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.”

Earlier, the athlete’s defence team called on pathologist Jan Botha as its first witness after a week’s adjournment.

Botha, a private pathologist who said he has carried out about 25,000 autopsies, was asked about gastric emptying and calculating Steenkamp’s time of death.

Earlier in the trial, the state called forensic pathologist Gert Saayman who said vegetable matter in Steenkamp’s stomach suggested she had eaten around two hours prior to her death, which contradicted Pistorius’ version of events.

Botha disputed this conclusion, saying that determining the time of death through gastric emptying is guesswork, calling it a “highly controversial and inexact science”.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel was fierce in his cross-examination of Botha and sought to suggest that his evidence was unreliable since he did not attend Ms Steenkamp’s autopsy and worked from photographs.