Who knew? Ricky Gervais ?

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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:27 am
Gerrie Nel is now asking Vermeulen about another mark on the door.

The mark was created when the bat was twisted, the court it told.

This hit is said to have broken a splinter out of the door and left indentations in the bat.

The judge is shown a picture of the bat fitting in the gap that has been broken out of the door.

8:23 am
Now the Col is on his knees, swinging the bat.

He hits the door with a bang by mistake and there are giggles from court.

It lands on or near the bat mark on the door.

The prosecution is trying to show that Pistorius was probably on his stumps when he hit the door

8:21 am
Vermeulen is now going to demonstrate to the court how the door was hit with the Lazer English Willow Club Plus cricket bat.

He asks the judge for permission to take off his jacket.

He stands next to the left of door that has been constructed in court, and hits it on the right hand side.

The height of his swing is 1.85m, but the mark where it was hit is 1.53m high.

The witness holds the bat against the door at the angle it hit, with the bat handle at hip height.

8:14 am
The court is now been shown a picture of the bathroom door with a narrow hole in it.

Col Vermeulen says the marks are consistent with hitting the door or bashing the door with a cricket bat.

The bat made a physical match with the marks, which is "indisputable" confirmation the bat was used to bash the door, the witness says.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The marks on the door were consistent with him not having his legs on, says the witness.

The Col is on his knees again as they measure the marks on the door with a tape measure.

He says he also noticed a mark beneath the door lock, but could not establish what caused it.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Nel wants a 10 min break to check he has covered everything... he is sure he has... he just wants a 10 min faffing about break

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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The prosecution had originally argued during the bail application hearing that Pistorius did have his prosthetics on, but now appears to be arguing the opposite point.

Gerrie Nel has requested a 10 minute adjournment.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

What is the mark with sticker high up on door... and WHERE are the bullet holes??

Here is the "leaked" photo from crime scene

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
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The court session resumes, and Gerrie Nel finished his questioning of Vermeulen.

Barry Roux asks for another adjournment before he begins his cross-examination.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

#OscarPistorius OP's legal team are spending the recess in front of the door taking notes. At one stage Roux was swinging bat

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#OscarPistorius State seems to have taken the defence by surprise with frantic measuring by OP's team of bat against door during recess

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#OscarPistorius OP is back in the dock, walks past his former friend Darren Fresco, glares at him but Fresco doesnt meet his eye

#Pistorius OP's dad Henke in court today for first time. Arrives with other children Carl and Aimee.

#OscarPistorius "Just saw my signature on the bat used by the accused in oscar trial... lol "tweets Herschelle Gibbs, SA cricketer

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Still in the break, and Roux is getting a colleague to "fake hit" the door from a full height position in a downward movement.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The session has resumed again.

Barry Roux asks Vermeulen if he has done a microscopic exam of the door. He confirms he did not.

Vermeulen says he thinks the height of Pistorius would have been the same when he wielded the bats and fired the shots.

Roux says it is the prosecution's case Pistorius was on his prosthetic legs, but Gerrie Nel replies: "It's not my lady. We say he was not on his prostheses."

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:28 am
Roux demonstrates that the cricket bat does match up with marks on the door when the witness' back is bent,

Vermeulen says the door was hit after shots were fired.

The door would have been in tact before the shots were fired.

10:21 am
Roux asks Vermeulen to push the bat into the gap in the door, but it doesn't fit.

The witness is losing his voice as he talks about the bat being hit with force then, and will not go in now because there us no force.

Vermeulen says the position he is being asked to adopt is "unnatural", but Roux tells him to how he knows what is unnatural for him may not have been unnatural to Pistorius.

10:13 am
Roux claims the failure of the witness to mention Pistorius was on his stumps in the report was an attempt to "ambush" them.

The lawyer asks one of his junior to place a bat against the door. Vermeulen says it doesn't correspond with his findings.

The witness goes to the door when asked, and changes his position to wield the bat from further back and lower down.

Vermeulen says it feels "unnatural".

10:00 am
"It wasn't me," the witness insists about missing door pieces, but said they would have helped his findings.

He says he cannot remember exactly who he spoke to about the missing pieces, but was told they were not available.

Roux is now asking the witness how he could suggest Pistorius was on his stumps with bits of the door missing - the lawyer says that was not in his report.

Vermeulen says he did not know it was an issue, and it was not part of his role to establish if Pistorius was on his stumps.

9:52 am
Vermeulen says he is not in the same position as Pistorius, and people who grow up with no legs would be more used to it.

Roux is now asking the witness about the bat's rubber handle, which Vermeulen says was removed for fingerprints, and about how the door was kept.

The lawyer is suggesting extra marks were made on the door when it was stored by police.

Roux says pieces of the door are missing too but the witness does not know where they are.

9:46 am
Roux asks Vermeulen to kneel in front of the door again and lift his feet up behind him.

Vermeulen does so, and says he loses his balance.

Mr Roux says he is trying to show it is "fine to illustrate someone standing on his knees with support by his feet", but Pistorius would not have had the balance to wield a cricket bat.

Vermeulen says that if he had good enough balance to fire a gun, he would have been able to wield a bat.

Roux wants him to do it again and hit the door with the bat, but he is refusing.

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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

DOOR WAS HIT AFTER THE SHOTS!!!

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Roux is concerned that when witness moves to door to demonstrate stuff.... sound of his answers will not be on the recording (that he is doing to refer to later) Asks for adjournment to check the technology

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I think it is questionable that this guy is deciding what is a "natural" position for HIM and applying that to people in general... especially "unusual" people like OP.

We are all a little different... OP is VERY different... on prosthetics his natural way of balancing etc.. is likely very different to the chubby witness.

OP is something of a "freak" (meant in the nicest way)... an athlete used to springing around at high speed on special blades. And just as an amputee, he no doubt has learned to find his own way of balancing and being comfortable. What is a natural position for OP swinging a bat (while wearing his prosthetic legs) is not known at all by this witness. It is likely to be VERY different from a chubby middle aged guy.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

We've adjourned briefly in Pretoria at the request of Barry Roux, to make sure that the witness' voice is being recorded when he moves away from the microphone

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The Telegraph

10.31 Lt Col Vermeulen is suggesting the bat was used on the door after the shots. He says there had to be a hole in the door before the wood chipped off by the bullet.

10.26 Roux is telling the colonel to forget what position is natural to him when he is saying that it would have been unnatural and uncomfortable to hit the door from an upright position.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light