SAPS deny leaking Pistorius case info

2013-02-17 13:04

Pretoria - SA police have denied leaking critical information about the Oscar Pistorius murder case which appeared in two Sunday newspapers.

"I don't know where people got these stories," lieutenant colonel Katlego Mogale told Sapa.

"Currently we haven't issued a statement or spoken to anyone."

On Sunday, the City Press reported that through "in-depth interviews" with sources "close" to the police investigation, it could reveal that a bloodied cricket bat found at Pistorius' home was going to be a key piece of evidence in court.

The article also detailed a phone call Pistorius allegedly made to his father in the early hours of the morning; as well as the fact police apparently asked for Pistorius to be tested for drugs and steroids.

Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate was shot and killed in the Pretoria home of her paralympian boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius, early on Thursday morning.

Charged with murder

Pistorius has been charged with murder and is due to appear in court on Tuesday for a formal bail application.

On Sunday, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Medupe Simasiku called for the source of the reports to the media, to be identified.

"[The newspaper] must confirm where they got the information."

Simasiku said that the NPA had been handed an incomplete police docket on the case on Friday. He said police had told the NPA the docket was incomplete as the investigation was still on the go.

Therefore, said Simasiku, the NPA did not have any sort of information like that published in the paper at hand.

"The information is in police hands."

Evidence may be wrong

Simasiku said the leaked information did not necessarily affect the court case as "the evidence [published] might be wrong".

The police's Mogale said she was "not at liberty" to say whether the leaked information was actually from the police docket.

"We can neither confirm nor deny [this]."

She said the leakage was "very serious" and an investigation would take place to discover who had been the sources giving information to the media.

As to what was going on in the investigation; "everything will be revealed in court," she said.

The City Press reported that police were investigating a number of scenarios involving a bloodied bat found in Pistorius' home. These included that Steenkamp used it for self-defence; that Pistorius used it to assault Steenkamp or to break down the bathroom door where Steenkamp was in at the time of the shooting.

Called a friend

The paper also said it could "reveal" that Steenkamp's skull was "crushed" and that police requested Pistorius undergo tests for drugs and steroids.

The paper detailed that Pistorius called his father just after 03:20 on Thursday and asked him to come to the house.

The City Press said when the family arrived, Pistorius was allegedly carrying Steenkamp's body down the stairs.

It said that "all" sources which spoke to its reporters had ruled out the possibility that Steenkamp was shot by Pistorius because he mistook her for an intruder.

Meanwhile the Sunday Independent published an interview with an unnamed "friend" who said she also got a call from Pistorius in the early hours of the morning. When she arrived at Pistorius' home, he was apparently carrying Steenkamp down the stairs.

The "friend" said Pistorius and her tried to help Steenkamp but she was pronounced dead by paramedics who arrived shortly afterwards.

- SAPA