Photocred: Time
Oscar Pistorius, the paralympian athlete accused of murdering his girlfriend at the time, Reeva Steenkamp, released a statement through his public relations agency stating that he regrets having gone clubbling, as it resulted in an altercation with another person at the club.
Oscar Pistorius went out to the VIP nightclub in the Michelangelo towers in Sandton City on Saturday when he and a fellow club-goer were allegedly involved in an altercation resulting in a scuffle that had to be separated by bouncers at the club.
According to Pistorius, the man, who was later identified as Jared Mortimer, approached him and began to engage him aggressively with regards to his ongoing murder trial. Pistorius claims that following their argument he asked Mortimer to simply leave him alone and then Pistorius left the club with his cousin, whom he was attending with. Mortimer, however, has a different take on the events, stating that Pistorius approached him and began to make drunken remarks, insulting Mortimer’s friends and the Zuma family. “I took this personally, because I am very good friends with a member of the Zuma family,” Mortimer said. He also claims that Pistorius was poking him in the chest with his finger while he was speaking to him, which resulted in him pushing Pistorius backwards into a chair. He stated that bouncers then intervened, as it was about to escalate and broke up the scuffle.
Pistorius’s spokesperson, Anneliese Burgess, gave a very different rendition of the confrontation. “The individual, according to my client, began to aggressively interrogate him on matters relating to the trial,” she stated. This statement is backed by officials from VIP Sandton, who deny that any altercation took place at their club.
Oscar Pistorius is currently on trial for the alleged murder of his girlfriend at the time, Reeva Steenkamp. He shot and killed her in the early hours of the morning on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2013. Steenkamp was apparently on the other side of the bathroom door in their house in Pretoria when Pistorius fired multiple shots into it, killing her. Pistorius has testified that he mistook Steenkampp for an intruder and fired through the door due to the fear of imminent attack. The case is currently adjourned until August, apperently when closing statements and a verdict will be heard. The court adjourned last week after multiple defence witnesses refused to testify, apparently because of the high profile of the case and extensive media coverage as a result of this.
