Intro:

The judge in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial on Thursday began to read the reasoning behind her upcoming verdict on whether the double-amputee athlete intentionally killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Thokozile Masipa, judge: ++SOUNDBITE INCLUDES CUTAWAY OF COURT++

"In the early morning hours of of 14 February 2014 the accused shot and killed Steenkamp, the deceased. At the time the shots were fired the deceased was inside the locked toilet. As a sequence to the above the accused was charged with the murder of Reeva Steenkamp."

SOUNDBITE (English) Thokozile Masipa, judge: ++SOUNDBITE INCLUDES CUTAWAY OF COURT++

"Responding to a question to whether he had consciously pulled the trigger. He answered as follows: 'I did not think about pulling the trigger. As soon as I heard the noise, before I could think I... pulled the trigger'. Close quote. The accused stated that he never thought of the possibility that he could kill people in the toilet. He considered, however, the thinking that was retrospectively it would be a probability that someone could be killed in the toilet. He stated that if he wanted to shoot the intruder, he would have shot higher up and more in the direction - where the opening of the door would be at the far right of the door and at chest height. I pause to say that this assertion is inconsistent with that of someone who shot without thinking. I shall revert to this later in my judgement."