Judgement is awaited in the matter of a damages claim by “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius and the student who earlier accused him of assaulting her during a party at his Silver Lakes home.
This resulted in Pistorius having to spend 17 hours in police custody following his arrest in 2009. He also faced a charge of assault, but the national director of public prosecutions decided not to proceed with the prosecution.
In a sequel to all this Pistorius instituted a R2.2 million damages claim against his accuser, Cassidy Taylor-Memmory.
He said in papers before the Pretoria High Court that this was for her instituting malicious prosecution proceedings against him, for his “unlawful” arrest and detention.
Pistorius also claimed that he had lost income resulting from his arrest and detention, as well as some sponsorships. He said that Taylor-Memmory had pressed false charges against him.
She accused him of slamming a door into her with such force that a piece of the wooden front door struck her leg.
Pistorius, who is disabled, said he was held in a general cell, along with other detainees arrested on a variety of charges. He said he felt threatened, vulnerable and frightened.
He also said he had to cancel two public speaking engagements because of his arrest, for which he would have been paid R40 000 each.
He also claimed R1,6m for loss of income as Nedbank and SYSPRO had refused to renew their “brand ambassador” contracts with him.
But Taylor-Memmory is insisting on Pistorius handing over documentation to prove his “loss”.
Judge Hiemstra reserved judgment but indicated he would deliver it soon. - Pretoria News