"I said: ‘Get the f**k out my house, get the f**k out!’" that's what an emotional Oscar Pistorius told the High Court in Pretoria he had shouted in the early hours of February 14 last year before he had shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The Paralympian said he had shouted out these words while making his way down the passage from his bedroom towards the bathroom where he had heard, what he suspected, was the sound of an intruder on that fatal morning.

He said that his pistol had been drawn at the time.

Pistorius then broke down in tears and court was adjourned to allow him to recover.

Earlier in the morning, prosecutor Gerrie Nel had told the athlete that the theme of day 22 of the trial would be Pistorius's "tailoring" of his evidence and his refusal to make concessions in the face of facts that were put to him and which did not suit his version of events.

Under Nel’s cross-examination, Pistorius could not explain why Steenkamp's stomach contents indicated that she had eaten shortly before her death.

The Blade Runner maintained that the couple had eaten shortly after 7pm on the night of February 13, eight hours before he fired the shots that killed her. He did however accept that Steenkamp might have eaten while he was asleep.

Pistorius was also unable to satisfy Nel with his explanation of why there were blood splatters on the duvet lying on the floor and on the carpet of his bedroom floor.

Nel continues cross-examination at 11:30am