Oscar's toilet door set up in court

The bathroom in which Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead by Oscar Pistorius has been reconstructed in court.

Up close ... Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock as he listens to cross questioning about the events surrounding the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Source: AP

OSCAR Pistorius could not have been wearing his prosthetic legs - as he has claimed - when he used a cricket bat to smash open the locked toilet door in his apartment, his murder trial has been told.

On the eighth day of the trial over the shooting death of Pistorius's girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the prosecution set up a recreation of Pistorius's bathroom door.

The door from Pistorius's home, and the cricket bat he used to gain entry through it on the night last year that he shot dead Steenkamp, were used in a courtroom demonstration by forensic expert Colonel Johannes Vermeulen.

Col Vermeulen placed the edge of the Lazer English Willow Club Plus bat into two marks on the heavy dark timber door, showing an exact match. One of the blows, just above the lock, had smashed through the door frame, allowing the bat to be used to lever open the door.

If the bat fits ... a policeman takes part in the reconstruction of the hitting of the door with the cricket bat. E Source: AFP

A 29-year veteran of over 1400 forensic investigations, the 1.85m tall Col Vermeulen got down on his kees to demonstrate his opinion that the angle of the bat when striking the door was consistent with it being held by a person with a shoulder height of 1.24m to 1.25m. Pistorius's shoulder height, when not wearing his prosthetic legs, is 1.25 cm.

In his statement read to the court on the first day of proceedings, Pistorius said he was wearing his prosthetic legs when he hit the door to get to the stricken Steenkamp.

Defence advocate Barry Roux used the 45-minute morning tea adjournment to carry out his own experiments using the door and cricket bat.

Under cross examination Col Vermeulen brought laughter from the gallery by saying he had noticed Mr Roux "running around" during the break.

"Was I running?" Mr Roux asked.

"There was a lot of commotion around the door."

Stressful ... Oscar Pistorius has displayed his emotions during the trial, which does not involve a jury. Source: AFP

Mr Roux asked Col Vermeulen to again recreate the blow while on his knees. He then asked him to "lift your feet" and do it again. Vermeulen lost his balance.

Mr Roux noted that Pistorius would have even less support than Vermeulen if attempting to swing a bat without using his prosthesis.

"He doesn't have knees," he said, asking Col Vermeulen to try again.

"I'm not going to do it," Col Vermeulen said. "I'm not in the same position that Pistorius is in. I'm not a person who grew up without legs."

Mr Roux then asked the stocky, broad-shouldered Col Vermeulen to stand and place the edge of the bat into one of the marks, a request he achieved by standing back from the door, squatting slightly and bending forward.

"So it fits?" asked Mr Roux.

"It is an un-natural position," he said.

"It is un-natural for you."

Arriving to court ... Oscar Pistorius flanked by media outside the Pretoria high court. Source: AP

Mr Roux continued to push the witness.

"It seems to me that the only thing you find un-natural is bending your back."

Col Vermeulen used an example of doing the dishes to explain the concept of "natural position".

"We automatically do things in a natural position. We don't do things in a way that is uncomfortable to us."

Mr Roux asked, "why is the natural position according to you the natural position for Mr Pistorius?"

In a scene reminiscent of the "if the glove don't fit" moment in the O.J Simpson trial, Mr Roux three times asked Col Vermeulen if the bat matched the mark on the door when he wielded it from the standing position.

Finally, he answered quietly, "It does. It does."

Prosecutors maintain Pistorius shot Steenkamp intentionally. He faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison before parole if convicted on the murder charge.

The door has always been viewed as crucial evidence in the case, and was removed from Pistorius's home in the hours after he shot Steenkamp on the morning of February 14, 2013.

It was kept by police but also taken back to Pistorius's Pretoria villa with their permission last year so that forensic experts working for the Olympian could do their own work on it.

In court, it was set up to the right of the room and was surrounded by a white border. Behind it, there was a recreation of the cubicle.

Darren Fresco, a one-time friend of Pistorius, continued his testimony at the start of the day. Fresco testified on Tuesday that he was with Pistorius on two occasions when the celebrated disabled runner shot guns in public in the six months before he killed Steenkamp.

Fresco said Pistorius fired without warning out of the sunroof of a moving car in September 2012 and then shot a gun by mistake under a table at a busy Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013 - around a month before he killed Steenkamp.

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