Prosecutors say Pistorius defence witness ‘too close to athlete to be credible’

Prosecutors have claimed the evidence of a key defence witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is not credible. The trial resumed with the questioning of Professor Wayne Derman , the doctor for the South African Paralympic team. Professor Derman testified last week that Pistorius was vulnerable, stressed and would have been unable to flee because of his disability. But prosecutor Gerrie Nel put it to the court on Monday that Professor Derman was close to Pistorius, travelled the world with him and therefore could not be objective.

You don’t want to give an answer that will not benefit the accused.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, addressing Professor Wayne Derman

The prosecutor argued that even if the physician’s analysis was correct, and “hyper vigilance” caused Pistorius to shoot Reeva Steenkamp, the Paralympian was a “danger to society”. Mr Nel did not mention explicitly the video broadcast on Australian TV that shows Pistorius re-enacting the night he shot his girlfriend. The defence commissioned the video but chose not to use it as part of their case - and they are furious it has been broadcast. Pistorius, who is on trial for premeditated murder, denies deliberately killing his girlfriend, claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

I have attempted to come to court to give as objective evidence as I can - I do not think I am biased.

Professor Wayne Derman’s response