Oscar Pistorius Cries During Testimony God Help Me' As He Takes The Stand, Apologising For Reeva Steenkamp's Killing.

Oscar Pistorius broke down in tears in the dock Tuesday, forcing an adjournment in his murder trial, as he recalled the moment he discovered he had shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead.

"I sat over Reeva," the athlete testified before sobbing loudly, putting his head in his hands and letting out a barely intelligible cry "she wasn't breathing".
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr and Mrs Steenkamp, to her friends and families," he said, pausing often to catch his breath.
Looking over at the Steenkamp family, Pistorius said: "There has not been a moment since this tragedy that I don't think about her family. I wake every morning and you are the first people I think about and you're the first people I pray for. I can't imagine the pain and sorrow and emptiness I have caused you."

Pistorius denies killing his girlfriend deliberately on Valentine's Day 2013, saying he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through the bathroom door.

"I was trying to protect Reeva", he said. "I can promise when she went to bed that night she felt love."

South Africa has no trial by jury, and Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide whether Pistorius is guilty or not guilty of murder. The trial is resuming after 10 days recess, because of a court official's illness.

Asked whether he had trouble sleeping, and whether he took medication, Pistorius said he had been on anti-depressants for 14 months. "I am scared to sleep. I have terrible nightmares," he said.

"I always lie awake in a complete state of terror, I would rather not fall asleep than wake in terror. I wake up with the smell, the smell of blood.

"In March and April I lost a lot of weight, I sought medical advice for sleep deprivation."

He described how he climbed into a cupboard one night in a panic attack, and had to call his sister to come and look after him. "I never want to handle a firearm again," he said.