‘State to portray Oscar as trigger-happy’

Murder accused Oscar Pistorius File photo: Siphiwe Sibeko

Murder accused Oscar Pistorius File photo: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Nov 21, 2013

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Johannesburg - In an apparent effort by the State to paint Oscar Pistorius as recklessly trigger happy with his firearms, the Paralympian sprinter has been slapped with an additional two gun charges.

Pistorius, who is due to stand trial in March for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day, claims he accidentally shot her after mistaking her for an intruder.

Pistorius was first served with an indictment of the charges against him in August. But on Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) served his legal team with a new indictment containing two additional charges, the first of which dates to September 2010.

The State contends that these new charges are in contravention of the Firearms Control Act, related to “reckless endangerment”, firing a gun in a builtup area or any public place, and of negligent damage to property.

“The accused, who is the licensed owner of a 9mm pistol, fired a shot through the sunroof of the car whilst travelling on a public road. There were other passengers in that car,” the indictment reads.

The indictment said they were travelling near Modderfontein, north-east of Joburg.

While the indictment does not state who the passengers were, it is believed one of them was Pistorius’s ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor.

City Press reported in August that Taylor was driving when Pistorius fired the shot through the open sunroof.

She also told the newspaper that she would reveal “what (Pistorius) made me go through” during their relationship, but later made an about-turn and refused to comment further.

Taylor, who is listed as a witness in the indictment, dated Pistorius before the Blade Runner began seeing Steenkamp late last year.

The second new charge dates to January this year and relates to an incident at Tashas restaurant.

“The accused, whilst having lunch with friends at a restaurant in Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, handled the firearm of one of his friends and a shot was discharged. This shot narrowly missed his friend and hit the floor of the restaurant,” the indictment reads.

Pistorius’s advocate Kenny Oldwadge declined to comment and referred queries to the instructing attorney Brian Webber.

Webber confirmed they were served with the indictment on Wednesday, but didn’t want to discuss the matter further.

“It’s sub judice. No, we don’t want to comment,” he said.

Peter Jay, a criminal lawyer who is not involved with the case, said it appeared as though the State was trying to bolster their case against Pistorius.

“In my opinion, it appears that they want to portray him as trigger happy,” he said.

“It looks like they’ll beat him with the book and see what sticks,” said Jay, who described the senior prosecutor in the case, advocate Gerrie Nel, as “very thorough”.

NPA spokesman Nathi Mncube said he could not go into detail on what the additional charges entailed.

The initial indictment showed that Pistorius faced a charge of murder and another of contravention of the Firearms Control Act.

This was in relation to the unlawful possession of ammunition on the night of Steenkamp’s death, the cause of which is described as “multiple gunshot wounds”, according to the first indictment.

“Some of the State witnesses heard a woman scream, followed by moments of silence, then heard gunshots and then more screaming,” the indictment also reads.

The State maintains that regardless of whether Pistorius did mistake Steenkamp for an intruder or not, he intended to “kill a human being”.

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