Pistorius ‘tried to shift blame for restaurant gunshot’

Oscar Pistorius asked a friend to take the blame after a pistol was accidentally fired in a restaurant in Johannesburg weeks before the double-amputee runner fatally shot his girlfriend, a witness told the Pistorius murder trial.

The evidence of boxer Kevin Lerena relates to firearms charges against Pistorius, and raises questions about the character of a man who insists he accidentally shot dead Reeva Steenkamp in his home in the early hours of February 14 last year. Prosecutors allege he intentionally shot his 29-year-old girlfriend.

Lerena said the incident in the restaurant happened when he and Pistorius and two other friends were dining in the swank Melrose Arch area of Johannesburg in January 2013.