Oscar was frantic to break down door

“At that time all I wanted to do was just look inside to see if it was Reeva,” he said, crying.

Pistorius was recalling events of the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year when he shot Steenkamp through the locked toilet door of his Pretoria home.

He said after he shot four times at the door, he did not know what to do.

As Pistorius went over the events, he spoke using his hands.

The closer he got to telling the court how he found out it was Steenkamp in the toilet cubicle, the more emotional he became.

He said he looked for Steenkamp in the bedroom, but could not find her. He put on his prosthetic legs and ran to the bathroom, putting his firearm on the carpet.

He said he kicked the door, and then went to the bedroom to fetch his cricket bat. At the time, the lights were on in the bathroom.

“The lights were on at that stage. I remember it was when I kicked the door,” an emotional Pistorius said.

He said he hit the door three times then took a big plank and threw it at the door.

Then he saw Steenkamp.

“At that point, all I wanted to do was climb into the toilet,” he said.

“I unlocked the door… And I sat over Reeva and I cried. I don’t know how long I was there,” he said, breaking down.

His sister Aimee also burst into tears in court.

Judge Thokozile Masipa adjourned the court for the athlete to compose himself.

As court adjourned, Pistorius sat crying out loud. Aimee rushed to his side and hugged him, followed by his brother Carl and other relatives.

Pistorius is on trial for the murder of Steenkamp, who was shot through the locked toilet door of his Pretoria home on February 14 last year.

He says he mistook her for an intruder.

He has pleaded not guilty and in his plea statement denied he had argued with her shortly before the shooting.

He also faces two charges related to contravening the Firearms Control Act, to which he has denied guilt.

– Sapa