Oscar Pistorius's lawyer Barry Roux, speaks at the start of his trial at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, March 3, 2014. Pistorius is charged with murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentines Day in 2013. (Themba Hadebe, POOL)
“About a week before the sports awards, we were at Sun City and we had a couple of problems. There was a lot of commotion in our relationship,” Samantha Taylor said to questions by Barry Roux, SC, for Pistorius.
Taylor told the court she met Pistorius at a rugby game in 2010 and started dating him the next year, when she was 17.
She broke up with him for the first time when Pistorius was on a trip to London and went out with a woman called Anastasia.
The second and last time their relationship ended, was on November 4, 2012 when Pistorius took Reeva Steenkamp to a sports awards ceremony.
Taylor said she spent four nights a week at his home during their relationship.
Pistorius sat upright in the dock, listening to her.
Asked by prosecutor Gerrie Nel why the relationship ended, she replied: “He cheated on me with Reeva Steenkamp.”
She started crying and court was adjourned for a few minutes to allow her to compose herself.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Steenkamp. He has denied guilt, saying he mistook her for an intruder.
He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.
He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
In September 2010 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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