By Nick Butler

Oscar Pistorius has been accused of premeditated murder by the prosecution ©AFP/Getty ImagesOscar Pistorius has been accused of being "more interested in defending his life than the truth" by chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel as part of a damning closing argument in the final stages of his murder trial in Pretoria. 


The 27-year-old six-time Paralympic champion is accused of deliberately shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home on February 14 last year after an argument.

But the South African, who also competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games, claims he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a locked toilet door.

On the first day of closing arguments following a one month adjournment of the trial, Nel insists Pistorius committed premeditated murder involving a "deliberate weighing up of actions".

"We argue there was no reasonable reason as to why he fired four shots," he told the court.

"If you fire four shots into a small cubicle with 'black talon' ammunition, you cannot escape that.

"He never said to anybody that it was an accident, that he fired by mistake.

"We put it to the court that he followed the sound when he fired the first shot and heard her fall onto the toilet, he then angled the following shots that way, they were all angled at the toilet."

The defence team will have an opportunity to offer their closing arguments tomorrow ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe defence team will have an opportunity to offer their closing arguments tomorrow ©AFP/Getty Images





As part of his summary of over more than 200 pages of evidence, Nel continued by accusing the lawyers of Pistorius of presenting a dishonest defence, before insisting the athlete himself was a "deceitful" witness.

At times during Nel's summing up, Pistorious shook his head in disagreement and held his head in his hands.

He said there was a fundamental contradiction in the argument that Pistorius' defence team made that the athlete acted in self-defence as he feared an intruder was in his house, but also shot Steenkamp because he was "startled".

"It's two defences you can never reconcile," Nel said, before adding that Pistorius is "more interested in defending his life than the truth".

The prosecutor concluded by using the South African's career as a metaphor for the trial, which the prosecution suggested was like a race with Pistorius holding the "baton of truth".

Prosecution and defence lawyers will continue to sum up their case tomorrow before judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa reaches her verdict, expected in around two weeks' time.

The 27-year-old faces at least 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, while he could also be convicted on lesser charges, such as culpable homicide or murder without premeditation.

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