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Oscar trial: Pistorius always had phone with him

Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius had his cellphone with him in bed at all times, his ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor told the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.

Taylor, whom he dated from 2011 to 2012, said he had two cellphones.

One, a work phone, he left in the kitchen, the other, a personal phone, he took to bed with him.

Taylor's testimony relates to whether he fired a shot through the sunroof of a car on September 30 2012. He is facing a charge under the Firearms Act on this allegation.

"If he went to the bathroom he would take his phone to the bathroom. He kept his cellphone wherever he went," she said.

He used his phone when they were in bed too.

His lawyer, Barry Roux, SC, said Pistorius did not always do this.

Taylor was asked where he kept the firearm she said he carried with him all the time. She previously said he put it on top of his prosthetic legs.

She had not seen him put his firearm under his bed when she had been at his house.

Roux wanted to know why she said he "often" used his cellphone at night, saying this did not mean every night, prompting prosecutor Gerrie Nel to lodge an objection over semantics.

Judge Thokozile Masipa entered the fray with "I have the same opinion as Mr Nel. Often can mean five times, four times."

Roux said: "Often means frequent, not every night."

Asked to clarify, Taylor said: "Every single night when I was in bed he would have used his cellphone."

It has been reported that Pistorius could not remember his cellphone access codes after he shot Steenkamp, and that an application has been made to Apple to release information contained on the phone.

Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp. 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.

 

 

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