Protesting: 'Rot in jail, was the message from women's groups outside the hearing

Tensions running high: Women protest outside the Pretoria Magistrates court, during the bail application hearing

PISTORIUS' WEAPONS APPLICATION

Pistorius has applied to the central firearms registry as collector to these firearms.

Six applications are pending, but any charge of violent crime will make it unlikely that firearm licenses will be granted.



‘I got my gun and moved towards the bathroom. I screamed at the intruder because I did not have my legs on I felt vulnerable. I fired shots through the bathroom door and told Reeva to call police.

‘I walked back to the bed and realised Reeva was not in bed. It then it dawned on me it could be her in there. It filled me with horror and fear.’ He put on his prosthetic legs, tried to kick down the door, then bashed it in with a cricket bat to find Miss Steenkamp dying.

‘She died in my arms,’ he said. ‘I am absolutely mortified at the death of my beloved Reeva.’

As Mr Roux read the statement, Pistorius wept and Mr Nair halted proceedings for several minutes. ‘You need to concentrate on what’s going on,’ he told Pistorius.

Statements from four friends were also read to the court which painted a picture of a ‘humble’ man who was considering building a future with Miss Steenkamp.

Mr Nair ruled that Pistorius should be charged with premeditated murder, a ‘category six’ offence that will make it very difficult for him to be granted bail.

Last night lawyers for Pistorius took the unusual step of releasing his full statement. Describing the moment he thought an intruder had broken in, the statement said: ‘I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. There are no bars across the bathroom window and I knew contractors had left ladders outside.’ The statement told how the toilet was in cubicle within the bathroom. ‘On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark.

‘I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realised that the intruder was in the toilet.

‘I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window.’ He said he then opened fire believing his girlfriend was still in bed. The hearing was adjourned.

The BBC has apologised after the 9am bulletin on Radio 6 Music, featuring a report on Pistorius, was followed by a song about a man shooting his girlfriend – the Jimi Hendrix Experience version of Hey Joe.

The track includes the lines: ‘Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand? I’m going out to shoot my old lady, you know I caught her messing around with another man.’











