Prosecutor accuses Pistorius-hired forensic 'expert' of being unqualified to testify

The prosecution at Paralympics runner Oscar Pistorius' trial has reportedly accused the forensic expert hired by the South African athlete of being unqualified to testify and rubbished his account of the circumstances in which Reeva Steenkamp died.

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel reportedly sought to prove that forensic geologist Roger Dixon did not have the experience to testify about the lighting, sound and physical evidence inside the athlete's home.

According to News.com.au, Dixon, who is a university professor, shared his views with the court regarding the sound made by Pistorius' cricket bat hitting his toilet door, amount of light available for visibility in the star sprinter's bedroom and blood splatter.

Pistorius' defence team has reportedly tried to prove that the noises, which his neighbours testified as 'bloodcurdling screams', were in fact the athlete bashing a cricket bat against his toilet door after realizing that he had mistakenly killed his model girlfriend.

However, Nel questioned Dixon if he is a sound expert, or he has received training in decibels and sound, but the forensics expert said that he had not.

Dixon also reportedly testified that Pistorius' bedroom was too dark for the athlete to see if Steenkamp was in bed, but when Nel asked the geologist how he analysed the visibility in the sprinter's bedroom at night, he replied that the instruments he used there were his eyes.

Nel then questioned Dixon, who is a former employee of the South African Police Service, if he is a blood splatter expert, to which the forensics expert replied that he has received no training in blood splatter analysis.

Pistorius, who faces accusations of murdering his girlfriend Steenkamp by firing at her though a bathroom door in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year, has said that he mistook the model and law graduate for an intruder into his Pretoria home, the report added.