Oscar admits Tashas discharge
Oscar Pistorius admitted holding the gun that went off under a table in Tashas restaurant in Johannesburg, during his murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Former soccer player Mark Batchelor (2nd from L) attends the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius in Pretoria, Tuesday, 8 April 2014. Picture: Masi Losi/Pretoria News/Pool
He said he had wanted to make sure the firearm was safe when his friend Darren Fresco handed it to him under the table so that he could check if had an attachment for a flashlight.
“A round came out of the breech and the next thing I knew the firearm went off,” he said.
He has been charged under the Firearms Act for the discharge of the firearm. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
He said the restaurant in Melrose Arch went quiet and he was angry that Fresco had handed him a firearm that was unsafe.
“I said to him what if someone got hurt.”
He gave the gun back to Fresco and people started talking again thinking there had been an explosion in the kitchen.
He said Fresco mentioned he would say the firearm fell or got hooked on his pants.
“I made the mistake of asking for a firearm at a restaurant,” Pistorius said, adding that Fresco made the mistake of giving it to him.
He was relieved nobody got hurt. He told the restaurant owner that it was his fault and offered to pay for any damages.
He did not specifically ask Fresco to cover up for him, but he did say to Fresco that he could not afford for it “to get out”.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria house on February 14 last year. He shot her through the locked door of his toilet, saying later he mistook her for an intruder.
Pistorius is also charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act.
One relates to the shot fired from the Glock pistol at Tashas in January 2013.
On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
– Sapa
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