Family says Pistorius, free on bail, had altercation at nightclub

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Oscar Pistorius was in an altercation at an upmarket nightclub over the weekend, his family said Tuesday.

Pistorius went with a cousin to a trendy Johannesburg nightclub on Saturday, where he was accosted by a man who aggressively questioned him about his murder trial, his family said Tuesday. The man gave a different version, saying the double-amputee runner was drunk, insulted his friends and the family of President Jacob Zuma and poked him in the chest.

Regardless of who started the argument, the weekend episode focuses fresh attention on the disputed character of Pistorius, a globally recognized athlete who is on trial for murder after he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a closed toilet door on Feb. 14, 2013. Defence lawyers describe Pistorius, currently free on bail, as a vulnerable figure with a disability who pulled the trigger in a tragic case of mistaken identity, but prosecutors portray him as a gun-obsessed hothead who shot Steenkamp after the couple quarreled.

MORE: Video footage shows Pistorius re-enacting killing

The trial is on a break ahead of closing arguments on Aug. 7-8, sparing Pistorius the near-daily trip to the Pretoria courthouse, where he has sometimes wept and wailed in apparent distress during testimony.

The nightclub argument has put him back on the front pages of South Africa’s press, which has also highlighted a number of quotations about suffering and religious faith that appeared on his Twitter account in the hours that followed.

It was not immediately clear whether the altercation would affect trial proceedings. Pistorius had been barred from consuming alcohol under early bail conditions, but the ban was rescinded after the defence appealed.

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Pistorius was seated in a quiet booth in the VIP section of the nightclub before he was approached, said Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for the Pistorius family.

“The individual, according to my client, started to aggressively interrogate him on matters relating to the trial. An argument ensued during which my client asked to be left alone,” she said in a statement. “Oscar soon thereafter left the club with his cousin. My client regrets the decision to go to a public space and thereby inviting unwelcome attention.”

The man who argued with Pistorius is Jared Mortimer, according to Johannesburg’s Star newspaper and The Juice, a South African celebrity news website, which quoted Mortimer as saying the Paralympic athlete started the confrontation.

READ MORE: Prosecutor in Oscar Pistorius trial challenges testimony of sports physician

Pistorius said Mortimer’s friends had betrayed him in the murder trial, The Star quoted Mortimer as saying in an apparent reference to evidence presented in court. The athlete also said he had information that could get those friends into trouble, but he would not use it, according to Mortimer.

“He was drunk, but not bad. We were drinking tequila and I still remember putting down my drink and thinking I couldn’t drink it while my friends were being spoken of like that,” The Star quoted Mortimer as saying.

Pistorius also insulted the family of the South African president, Jacob Zuma, upsetting Mortimer, who is a friend of a member of Zuma’s family, according to the newspaper.

“He was poking me and saying that I would never get the better of him,” the newspaper quoted Mortimer as saying. “He was close to my face and at that point I pushed him to get him away from me. A chair was behind his legs and he fell to the ground.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He was poking me and saying that I would never get the better of him," the newspaper quoted Mortimer as saying. "He was close to my face and at that point I pushed him to get him away from me. A chair was behind his legs and he fell to the ground."

The altercation happened Saturday night in Sandton, an upscale area in Johannesburg, according to South African media.

A woman who answered the telephone at The VIP Room, the club where the incident occurred, said club owner Chris Coutroulis was “overseas” and was awaiting reports from club staff who witnessed the altercation.

The club website says it caters to the “nouveau riche” and invites guests to “slip on your diamante dancing shoes or designer suit and dance the night away at the most ostentatious venue in Joburg.”

On Monday, several quotations appeared on Pistorius’ Twitter account. They included the biblical verse “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,” as well as a prayer, “Lord, today I ask that you bathe those who live in pain in the river of your healing. Amen.”

Another tweet shows photos of Pistorius with disabled and other children and a caption about “the ability to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Burgess, the Pistorius family spokeswoman, said she was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the tweets. He last tweeted on Feb. 14, the first anniversary of Steenkamp’s death.

Pistorius, who says he killed Steenkamp after thinking an intruder was about to attack him, faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder. He could also be sentenced to a shorter prison term if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing. Additionally, he faces separate gun-related charges.