Oscar flees newshounds

Published Sep 11, 2014

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Pretoria - Paralympian Oscar Pistorius was chased by the media when he exited the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.

There was a wall of photographers and cameramen standing at the door to the court waiting for him to leave.

People standing outside screamed and cheered as he came out.

Pistorius was escorted by police.

Judgment in his trial was postponed to Friday, and Judge Thokozile Masipa was due to rule on whether Pistorius was guilty of culpable homicide, which is defined as the unlawful killing of a person without an intention to kill.

Pistorius was acquitted of murder as the court found that the evidence with regard to the charge was “purely circumstantial”.

“The accused therefore cannot be found guilty of murder dolus eventualis (legal intent)... that however is not the end of the matter as culpable homicide is a competent verdict,” said Masipa.

“The State has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”

Pistorius, 27, said he thought an intruder was behind the door of the toilet in his Pretoria home when he shot through it. He fired four times killing Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.

The State argued the murder was premeditated.

Pistorius pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, and to three firearm-related charges.

Sapa

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