11 Mar 2014

Pistorius vomits as he hears evidence

8:47 am on 11 March 2014

Oscar Pistorius vomited in court as he heard a pathologist's testimony about the nature of his girlfriend's injuries after he shot her dead.

Pathologist Gert Saayman told the court that Reeva Steenkamp was shot three times, in the head, hip and arm, the BBC reports.

Oscar Pistorius on the sixth day of his trial for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Oscar Pistorius on the sixth day of his trial for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photo: AFP

The judge had earlier banned live broadcast of the post-mortem examination testimony.

The Paralympic athlete, on trial for murder, denies intentionally killing his girlfriend.

Mr Pistorius' body jerked and he retched as he heard the pathologist's evidence at the court in Pretoria.

A bucket was placed next to Mr Pistorius, who broke down in tears on several occasions, leading the judge to briefly halt proceedings.

The pathologist described how the wounds on Ms Steenkamp's body were consistent with bullets being fired through a wooden object such as a door.

The wounds to her arm and hip could have killed her because of the extent of the bleeding, Mr Saayman said.

He added that the bullets used were a "black talon" type, designed to cause maximum tissue damage.

The pathologist also said that Ms Steenkamp had eaten within two hours of being killed.

Our correspondent notes this seems to contradict Mr Pistorius' account - that the couple had been in bed for several hours before he woke, thought there was an intruder and mistakenly shot the 29-year-old model and aspiring lawyer four times through the toilet door.

After the trial was adjourned for the day, the athlete remained slumped in the dock for several minutes being comforted by family members.