Oscar Trial: Child near when shot was fired

“There was a child in a chair next to them, between the two tables,” Maria Loupis said during questioning from prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

She is the wife of Jason Loupis, owner of Tashas restaurant in Johannesburg, where Pistorius allegedly fired a shot into the floor on January 11, 2013 around lunchtime. Darren Fresco had just passed the gun to him under the table.

Boxer Kevin Lerena, Pistorius, Fresco and British sprinter Martyn Rooney were sitting together at the time. The bullet went into the floor under the table, grazing Lerena’s toe.

Questioning of the Loupis couple by both Nel, and Barry Roux, for Pistorius, was over quickly.

“There’s not a lot in dispute as far as this count is concerned,” Nel said before he began questioning Maria Loupis.

Pistorius is accused of recklessly firing a gun in public, one of the four charges he is facing.

The State will try to prove that Pistorius committed premeditated murder when he shot model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp through the toilet door in his Pretoria home on February 14 last year.

In addition, he is charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and recklessly discharging a firearm in public. Pistorius contends he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot through the toilet door.

– Sapa