Oscar trial day 21: Five things you need to know

1.     Pistorius has always claimed that he kept the gun under his bed because he has been a victim of violence and burglaries. However he admitted in court today that he has never gone to the police station to report a crime saying he didn’t think there was anything the police could do for him (his house has been burgled and he was shot on a highway).

2.     Pistorius told the court he moved into the Silverwoods Estate in May 2008 and while there he reportedly felt safe enough to leave his car outside, not fix a broken window when immediately after it was damaged and did not regularly check with security about the safety of the estate.

3.     Pistorius stated that he deactivated his alarm to carry Reeva outside to get help, but then later said that he ‘must have’ turned the alarm off as he cannot remember. Gerrie Nel accused him of tailoring his evidence and said “you are getting deeper into trouble Mr Pistorius.”

4.     During question Nel asked why Pistorius did not try to take Steenkamp out of the bedroom to safety. Pistorius replied “It’s very easy to look back and look at all the possibilities but that is not what happened.” According to Pistorius he was shouting and screaming to Steenkamp to call the police and to the ‘intruder’ to get out of the house.

5.     Pistorius made another error in his evidence. After saying previously that it sounded as if the ‘intruder’ may have kicked the toilet door, he told the court: “I never, ever said somebody kicked the door. After Nel pointed the out Pistorius apologised. Nel said: “You are thinking of something that never happened and you have to keep up… with an untruth.”