Intro:

An emotional and faltering Oscar Pistorius takes the witness stand in his murder trial.

He began by apologising to the family of the woman he shot dead on Valentine's Day last year, Reeva Steenkamp.

Script:

An emotional Oscar Pistorius begins testifying in his murder trial.

Apologising to the family of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he killed on Valentine's Day last year.

Pistorius said he is on anti-depressants and sometimes wakes up in terror due to the trauma of the shooting.

He claims he shot Steenkamp by accident after mistaking her for an intruder, insisting he was simply trying to protect her.

UPSOUND: (English) Oscar Pistorius: ++NOT IN VISION, OVERLAID BY VARIOUS OF TRIAL, INCLUDING STEENKAMP FAMILY - STARTS ON SHOT OF JUDGE++

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mrs and Mr Steenkamp, to Reeva's family, to those of you who knew her who are here today."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Thokozile Masipa, Judge:

"Mr Pistorius, I don't like doing this to you, but I can hardly hear you."

UPSOUND: (English) Oscar Pistorius: ++NOT IN VISION, OVERLAID BY VARIOUS OF TRIAL, INCLUDING STEENKAMP FAMILY - STARTS ON SHOT OF JUDGE++

"I beg your pardon my Lady, I'll speak up. I'd like to apologise and say that there's not a moment, and there hasn't been a moment, since this tragedy happened when I haven't thought about Reeva, your family. I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of, the first people I pray for. I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that I've caused you and your family. I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved. I've tried to put my words on paper, many, many times to write to you, but no words would ever suffice."

UPSOUND: (English) Oscar Pistorius: ++NOT IN VISION, OVERLAID BY VARIOUS OF TRIAL, INCLUDING STEENKAMP FAMILY - STARTS ON SHOT OF ATTENDEES++

"I'm scared to sleep, for several reasons, but I have terrible nightmares, about things that happen at night where I wake up and I can smell blood and I wake up to being terrified. If I hear a noise I wake up in a complete state of terror to a point that I'd rather not sleep."

UPSOUND: (English) Oscar Pistorius: ++NOT IN VISION, OVERLAID BY VARIOUS OF TRIAL, INCLUDING STEENKAMP AND PISTORIUS' FAMILY - STARTS ON SHOT OF JUDGE++

"It was towards the end of last year or the beginning of this year I woke up in a panic. I'm blessed that my sister stays on the same property as I do, so I can phone her in the middle of the night, which I often do to come and sit by me. And on that particular night, I don't obviously want to handle a firearm again or be around a firearm, so I've got a security guard that stands outside my front door at night. But I woke up and I was terrified and I for some reason couldn't calm myself down, so I climbed into the cupboard and I phoned my sister to come and sit by me for a while, which she did."