Oscar Pistorius was expected to testify in court about killing Reeva Steenkamp, until illness forced an cancellation
Oscar Pistorius expected to give evidence at murder trial Reuters

Oscar Pistorius is due to give evidence at his murder trial about the night he shot dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The Olympian and Paralympian will take to the witness stand as his defence gets underway today (Monday) after a week-long adjournment.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux – whom Pistotrius is paying a reported £3,500 a day - opened the defence by cross-examining pathologist Jan Botha.

The vastly experienced Botha has carried out 25,000 post-mortems and given evidence in court thousands of times.

Botha requested that he be the first witness for "personal reasons". He gave his opinion about the injuries Steenkamp suffered when Pistorius fired four shots through the bathroom door of his home on the outskirts of Pretoria.

Rules at North Gauteng High Court forbid witnesses being filmed for TV, but audio of proceedings is allowed.

The high-profile court case was adjourned for one week because of illness to one of the two court assessors assisting Judge Thokozile Masipa.

Pistorius denies murder and claims he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder at his luxury home. However the prosecution alleges he killed her following an argument.

The trial continues.

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