Oscar cheated on me twice - ex-girlfriend Samatha Taylor

Oscar Pistorius appears in the dock on the fifth day of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court. 

Pretoria - The ex-girlfriend of murder-accused Paralympian Oscar Pistorius started crying after telling the North Gauteng High Court that he cheated on her twice.

This prompted the judge to call a composure break.

Gently spoken Samantha Taylor had just described how Pistorius had fired a shot through a sunroof of a car while they were dating - which relates to the charge of discharging a firearm in a public place.

'He cheated on me'

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked why their relationship, between 2011 and 2012, had ended and she said: "He cheated on me with Reeva Steenkamp."

Steenkamp was shot dead by Pistorius in a toilet cubicle in his bathroom in Pretoria on 14 February 2013.

He said it was mistaken identity, thinking it was a burglar. The State alleges it was murder.

When Roux began his cross-examination, he asked why they broke up.

She responded by enquiring whether he was referring to their first or second time.

Taylor said: "The first time our relationship ended was when he cheated on me with..." and she sniffed and apologised to the judge.

"I'm sorry, My Lady," she said, and Judge Thokozile Masipa called an adjournment.

Taylor wiped her eyes and was comforted by another woman, until court resumed a few minutes later.

She broke up with him for the first time when Pistorius was on a trip to London and went out with a woman called Anastasia.

'Commotion'

Taylor testified that there was "a lot of commotion" in her relationship with Pistorius and they broke up for the second and last time on 4 November 2012 when Pistorius took Steenkamp to a sports awards ceremony.

"About a week before the sports awards, we were at Sun City and we had a couple of problems. There was a lot of commotion in our relationship," Taylor said to questions by Barry Roux, SC, for Pistorius.

Taylor told the court she met Pistorius at a rugby game in 2010 and started dating him the next year, when she was 17.

Pistorius sat upright in the dock, listening to her.

She said she spent about four days a week at his house and was familiar with the main bedroom of the house.

He would sleep on the right hand side of the bed, she said.

She knew he owned a gun because "he carried it around with him".

She said at night he placed the firearm on his bedside table or next to his legs on the floor.

Pistorius wears prosthetic legs after a double amputation as a child and went on to become a gold medal-winning athlete who also competed in the Olympic games.