Pistorius Disability 'Provoked Him To Fight'

Oscar Pistorius' lawyer says his disability meant he had a "fight-not-flee" response when he thought he heard an intruder.

In his closing argument, Barry Roux repeated Pistorius' claim that he believed he was firing on an intruder when he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Mr Roux said that when anxious and startled, people either fight, flee or freeze.

He said Pistorius' disability meant he had developed an "exaggerated fight response" over time, because fleeing was not an option.

Pistorius, a double-amputee, spent his whole life "knowing he couldn't run away," Mr Roux said.

Sky's Alex Crawford says Mr Roux is on 'fine form' in his closing statement

He referenced a number of experts who testified that Pistorius had what he called a "slow burn reaction" to having lived his life with the disability, which culminated in the moment he was startled by a noise and reacted. He used the analogy of an abused woman who shoots her husband after years of violence.

Mr Roux said Pistorius won't have known what he was doing when he opened fire and can therefore not be held responsible for murder.

The athlete's lawyer was picking up where he left off on Thursday when he began summing up the defence, taking over from prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

The victim's father, Barry Steenkamp, was in court again on Friday

Having put forward the crux of the defence relatively early, Mr Roux proceeded to go through a detailed timeline of events based on photo records and witness recollections. 

He said they backed up Pistorius' version of events, which the prosecution had described as a "crumbling mosaic."

He listed all the areas where the prosecution had fallen short, accusing them of selectively calling in witnesses who lived far away from the crime scene and not calling in witnesses who lived nearby and had testified they heard a man screaming on the night of the murder, not a woman.

Oscar Pistorius claims he did not intend to shoot model Reeva Steenkamp

He also sought to discredit a witnesses who claimed to have heard a woman sounding "fearful and emotional," saying he had altered his evidence after a lunch break.

Sky News' Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, who is in the courtroom in Pretoria, says Mr Roux is putting the defence case forward "hammer and tongs", having spent much of the trial in the shadow of Mr Nel who is nicknamed "the pitbull".

The prosecution alleges that Pistorius intended to shoot and kill Ms Steenkamp when he fired four shots through the bathroom door where she was hiding after an argument on February 14 last year.

In his closing argument, however, Mr Nel argued that regardless of whether he knew he was firing at his girlfriend, Pistorius intended to kill whoever he believed was behind the door.

Mr Nel said Pistorius therefore cannot escape a murder conviction.

The state is pressing for the athlete to be convicted of premeditated murder - which carries a life sentence.

Once the defence has finished summing up, judge Thokozile Masipa adjourns the trial to deliberate on her verdict with two legal assistants.

It is expected she will set a date for a verdict in the next few weeks.

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