Pistorius' defence team accuses police photographer of 'disturbing evidence' at crime scene

The defence team of murder-accused Oscar Pistorius has reportedly accused the South African police staff of mishandling the crime scene during the 12th day of the Paralympian's trial at Pretoria.

According to the BBC, the defence accused the police photographer Bennie Van Staden of causing 'great disturbance' with his images to the evidence, although Van Staden insisted that he had followed procedure while moving evidence.

Photographs of the bloody scene at Pistorius' house were shown to court and the report said that the defence challenged Van Staden over two images of Pistorius' bedroom, which showed tissues, a CD and a remote control in different positions.

However, Van Staden said that he had taken pictures of the original scene before moving bloodied towels and a duvet to check for further evidence and insisted that he worked alone, although the defence used metadata on each photo to suggest that the two policemen were taking pictures in the same room at the same point.

Van Staden took hundreds of images at the scene, including several of the bloodied cricket bat as well as bullet casings and a gun, pictures of the accused and the deceased, as well as pictures of the rooms of the house.

So far, the defence has pointed out several errors by police investigators, including an officer handling the suspected murder weapon without gloves and another stealing from the house, the report added.