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Live coverage of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. Warning - may contain graphic testimony
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has denied "picking on" his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, as his cross-examination continues.
He was commenting on a mobile phone message Ms Steenkamp had sent him.
The prosecution has been trying to portray Mr Pistorius as self-obsessed and negligent with firearms.
Mr Pistorius denies murdering Ms Steenkamp, saying he accidentally shot her dead through a door, fearing there was a burglar in his house.
Prosecutors say the Olympic and Paralympic sprinter intentionally killed his girlfriend on 14 February last year by firing a gun through a bathroom door at her after a row at his Pretoria home.
Mr Pistorius, 27, who is a double amputee, faces life imprisonment if convicted of murdering the 29-year-old model, reality TV celebrity and law graduate.
In Thursday's proceedings:
- Mr Pistorius said he had not meant to pull the trigger
- Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel accused him of being selfish, negligent and lying
- He said Mr Pistorius' apology in court was a "spectacle"
- Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, said she was "unmoved" by his apology
- Mr Pistorius denied ever shouting at Ms Steenkamp, or a previous girlfriend
Under intense cross-examination, Mr Pistorius said he had not meant to pull the trigger, even to fire at an intruder.
"It was an accident... I didn't have time to think," he said, his voice trembling after he had been generally calm in contrast to previous days.
Continue reading the main storyEarlier, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel, known as the "bull terrier" in South Africa for his fierce questioning, suggested that Mr Pistorius was only concerned about himself during the couple's three-month relationship.
"It was all about you Mr Pistorius," he said, repeatedly.
- One of South Africa's most respected legal minds
- Known for his no-nonsense attitude inside the courtroom
- More than 30 years' experience
- No stranger to high-profile cases - prosecuted former police boss Jackie Selebi on corruption charges, calling him an "arrogant liar" during cross-examination
- Widely praised for his meticulous attention to detail
The BBC's Karin Giannone at court in Pretoria says Mr Nel is trying to give an impression that the Paralympic athlete is self-centred, contemptuous of his girlfriend and lacking responsibility.
Mr Nel suggested that Mr Pistorius should have apologised to Ms Steenkamp's family in private, rather than making a "spectacle" by doing it in court as he opened his defence on Monday.
The athlete replied that he had not had the opportunity and had been unable to find the correct words.
When Mr Nel noted that in Monday's apology, Mr Pistorius did not say he was sorry for killing Ms Steenkamp, the athlete replied: "I'm terribly sorry that I took the life of their daughter".
In an interview with the UK's Daily Mirror newspaper, her mother, June, said the apology "left me unmoved. I knew it was coming".
She said: "He has been very dramatic, the vomiting and crying... I don't know whether he's acting."
In court, Mrs Steenkamp shook her head as Mr Pistorius was taken through several Whatsapp messages, which Ms Steenkamp had sent.
In one, she wrote: "You have picked on me incessantly since we got back from Cape Town."
Asked to comment, Mr Pistorius said: "I don't feel like I picked on her incessantly - maybe we were having a rough time in our relationship."
He also denied ever shouting or screaming at Ms Steenkamp, or a previous girlfriend, Sam Taylor, as she had testified earlier in the trial.
Referring to an incident when a gun was fired in a restaurant, he said he had not been aware the gun was loaded but insisted he had not pulled the trigger.
Mr Nell said a gun firing itself would be a "miracle". He also accused Mr Pistorius of lying and not taking responsibility for his actions.
"You will blame anybody but yourself," the prosecutor said, after Mr Pistorius had questioned the decisions of his defence lawyers.
Mr Pistorius did admit keeping ammunition in his bedside table, rather than in a safe.
He said he was usually armed "for my own safety".
On Wednesday's dramatic first day of questioning by Mr Nel, the South African athlete became distraught as he was shown a graphic photo of Ms Steenkamp after her death.
If Mr Pistorius is acquitted of murder, South African law stipulates that the court must consider the separate, lesser charge of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for which he could receive between six and 15 years in prison.
Mr Pistorius also faces charges of illegally firing a gun in public and of illegally possessing ammunition, both of which he denies.
There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.
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Mr Pistorius said in his statement at the start of the trial that he woke in the early hours and walked on his stumps to the balcony, pulled in two fans, closed the sliding door and drew curtains. He said that shortly before he had spoken to Reeva, who was in bed beside him.
He said he rejected prosecution claims that a witness heard arguing coming from the house before the shooting.
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Mr Pistorius said he heard the bathroom window sliding open and believed that an intruder, or intruders, had entered the bathroom through a window which was not fitted with burglar bars.
"Unbeknown to me, Reeva must have gone to the toilet in the bathroom at the time I brought in the fans," he said.
Mr Pistorius said he approached the bathroom armed with his firearm, to defend himself and his girlfriend, believing Ms Steenkamp was still in bed.
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Both sides agree four bullets were fired. Ms Steenkamp was hit three times.
Mr Pistorius said he fired his weapon after hearing a noise in the toilet which he thought was the intruder coming out of the toilet to attack him and Ms Steenkamp.
He said he was in a fearful state, knowing he was on his stumps and unable to run away or properly defend himself.
Mr Pistorius said he rejected claims that he was on his prostheses when he shot at the door.
A witness told the trial she woke to hear a woman screaming and a man shouting for help. She said that after the screams she heard four shots.
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Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bedroom after shooting at the toilet door, still shouting for Reeva. Lifting himself up onto the bed, he felt over to the right hand side of it and noticed Ms Steenkamp was not there.
Mr Pistorius said this was when he realised she could have been in the toilet.
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Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bathroom but the toilet was locked, so he returned to the bedroom, pulled on his prosthetic legs, turned on the lights before bashing in the toilet door with a cricket bat.
Forensics expert Johannes Vermeulen told the court that the height of the marks on the door caused by the cricket bat suggest Mr Pistorius was on his stumps at the time.
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Mr Pistorius's defence team say he then called security at the gated housing complex and a private paramedic service before carrying Ms Steenkamp downstairs.
A security guard claimed it was the other way round, and he had called Mr Pistorius first after reports of gunfire. However, phone records shown to the court revealed Mr Pistorius called the estate manager at 3:19am, a minute later he called the ambulance service and at 3:21am he called estate security.
A minute later he received an incoming call - estate security calling him back.
According to police phone expert Francois Moller, Mr Pistorius called his friend Justin Divaris a short time later and just after 4:00am he called his brother Carl.
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