Pistorius back in court as lead detective faces attempted murder charges

Charges against the detective has been withdrawn and Botha said he thought their reinstatement was linked to his work on this case.

OSCAR PISTORIUS IS back in court in South Africa for the third day of his bail hearing over the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day.

The lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius murder case is himself facing seven attempted murder charges for shooting at a taxi in 2009 to try to stop it, police have said today.

“We were only informed yesterday that attempted murders charges against Hilton Botha have been reinstated,” said police spokesman Neville Malila.

Charges were initially brought against investigating officer Botha in 2011, but later withdrawn. Botha told eNCA’s Karyn Maughan that he didn’t understand why the case was reinstated and that he could only think that it was linked to his work on Pistorius’ case.

It is not clear whether he will continue working on the case, though he told eNCA that he will stay on the case.

Yesterday, Botha’s evidence came under scrutiny from Pistorius’ defence team, forcing him to admit to multiple errors in the case, including not wearing protective clothing when attending to the athlete’s house, where the shooting happened.

Under cross-examination, Botha was forced to admit that Pistorius’s version of the early morning shooting last Thursday fitted the crime scene, weakening the state’s claim that the killing was premeditated.

Additional reporting by Michelle Hennessy.