Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius returned to the dock where he was dubbed a 'deceitful witness' as lawyers made their closing arguments on Thursday.
State lawyer Gerrie Nel kicked off a two-day showdown between the South Africa's top legal minds, insisting that Pistorius deliberately murdered his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year and declared him as a deceitful witness.
Blade Runner Pistorius, a double-amputee star sprinter, has denied the charge in the months-long trial in which he has at times sat weeping and vomiting in the dock as grisly details of Steenkamp's death were presented to the judge, News.com.au reported.
Reeva's father Barry Steenkamp and Henke Pistorius, Oscar's father, made their first appearances in court as the five-month long and emotion-filled trial reaches its finale.
Pistorius' legal team, led by defence lawyer Barry Roux, has sought to convince Judge Thokozile Masipa that the double amputee shot his girlfriend by accident, mistaking her to be an intruder in his Pretoria home.
The defence has sought to portray Pistorius as a highly vulnerable individual obsessed with safety, a result of a difficult childhood and his disability, in a country with a sky-high crime rate.
Nel said that it is the state's case the accused was a deceitful witness, and described Pistorius's testimony being absolutely devoid of any truth. He said that there are glaring contradictions in the Paralympic gold medallist's story.
