'Specialist' anaesthetist says 'speculative to attempt to estimate when Reeva had last eaten'

An anaesthetist called by the defence team of Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius has said in her testimony at the at the double-amputee runner's murder trial that it is 'speculative to attempt to estimate when the slain Reeva Steenkamp had last eaten'.

The testimony relates to an autopsy report on Steenkamp's body that said she still had food in her stomach after she was killed by Pistorius, leading prosecutors to challenge his story that the couple ate around eight hours before he shot her through a toilet door.

According to News.com.au, Professor Aina Christina Lundgren dismissed the statement of an expert testifying for the prosecution, who said that Steenkamp ate much later on the night of the killing and not in line with Pistorius' story as a person's stomach is normally empty of food six hours after eating.

Lundgren, who described herself as a specialist anaesthetist, testified that there are a number of factors that could have delayed the digestion process in Steenkamp to explain the food found in her stomach, including that she was a pre-menopausal woman and had been sleeping.

Lundgren said it was difficult to be exact about the rate of digestion and it was 'speculative to attempt to estimate when she had last eaten'.