By Paul Osborne

Oscar Pistorius once fired a gun out of the roof of his car, the court heard today ©AFP/Getty ImagesMarch 7 - Oscar Pistorius once fired a gun through a car sunroof after an argument with a police officer, his former girlfriend Samantha Taylor told a court in Pretoria today.


A tearful and nervous Taylor, who was 17 when she started dating the South African Paralympic sprinter, described the alleged incident on the fifth day of the Pistorius murder trial as she painted a picture of a man who rarely went anywhere without his gun.

She told the court that the alleged shooting incident happened when six-time Paralympic gold medallist Pistorius became angry after a police officer stopped him for speeding, saw the gun on the car seat and told him it could not be left there.

"Oscar left his gun on the seat of the car," she said.

"When the police had a look he saw the gun was on the seat.

"He said to Oscar the gun couldn't just stay there.

"Oscar got very angry.

"He shouted at the policeman that he was not allowed to touch his gun."

When they were allowed back on their way, Pistorius and his friend Darren Fresco were said to have joked about shooting a "robot", the South African term for a traffic light, with the Paralympian then discharging the firearm out of the car's sunroof.

"Oscar was very angry," said Taylor.

"Thereafter they were joking around and saying they wanted to shoot a robot.

"Two minutes after, I saw Oscar take his gun and shoot out of the car roof.

"A very loud sound.

"They both laughed."

Oscar Pistorius reacts during the fifth day of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp ©AFP/Getty ImagesOscar Pistorius reacts during the fifth day of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp ©AFP/Getty Images



The incident was one of a few described by Taylor which involved Pistorius carrying a gun, something his former girlfriend said he carried with him "all the time".

She described one incident when Pistorius woke her up in the middle of the night after hearing a noise from the window.

Taylor claimed she tried to calm him but he got up, grabbed his gun and went to inspect the house anyway.

Taylor became very tearful when she told the court that her relationship with Pistorius had ended in November 2012 when he "cheated" on her with model Reeva Steenkamp, whom he is accused of the premeditated murder of, after an incident on February 14 last year in his Pretoria home.

She said they broke up twice, the second time on November 4, 2012, after he took Steenkamp to a sports awards ceremony.

The defence pointed to emails it said proved the relationship with Taylor was already over by the time Pistorius began seeing Steenkamp, but Taylor insisted the relationship was not "officially" over when he started dating Steenkamp.

Security guard Peter Baba tells the court that Pistorius told him "everything is fine" when he called the athlete after hearing gunshots in the early hours of the morning ©AFP/Getty ImagesSecurity guard Peter Baba tells the court that Pistorius told him "everything is fine" when he called the athlete after hearing gunshots in the early hours of the morning
©AFP/Getty Images



Following Taylor in the witness box was Peter Baba, a security guard at Pistorius' Silver Woods estate who was on duty the night Steenkamp died.

Baba told the court that he phoned Pistorius after hearing gunshots in the early hours of the morning with the athlete first responding, "Security? Everything is fine".

He said that Pistorius then called him back, crying but not saying anything, before the line went dead.

He then recalled seeing Pistorius carrying Steenkamp down the stairs but was initially too shocked to help.

The trial is due to resume on Monday (March 10).

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