Ex-girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius broke down in court today as she described how the athlete cheated on her with Reeva Steenkamp.

Samantha Taylor told how Pistorius once shot a bullet through a car sunroof – and on another occasion waved his weapon at a vehicle which he thought was following him.

Proceedings were halted twice as Ms Taylor had to compose herself during a drama-packed morning at the Pretoria court.

She told how Oscar Pistorius nearly always carried a gun and recalled one night when she was awoken by the athlete who feared an intruder in the house.

The court was told how Pistorius grabbed his gun, got out of bed and went to investigate.

Ms Taylor also described occasions when Pistorius screamed at her “out of anger” and said that he was often on his mobile phone when they were in bed together.

She described another time when the athlete became very angry when police stopped a car he was travelling in.

About 15 minutes after being stopped he fired his gun out of the sunroof – to “irritate the police”, laughing after doing so.

He had earlier joked with the driver of the car about shooting “a robot” – South African slang for a traffic light.

The court was told how Ms Taylor normally spent four nights a week at Pistorius’ home.

She wept, and the court was adjourned twice, as she said how “upset” she was about the couple’s break-up and the fact that she had been cheated on.

Miss Taylor said that on another occasion Pistorius was followed by a white Mercedes car.

She said that Pistorius leapt out of his car as he approached the security gates of his home and waved his gun at the car, which drove off.

Ms Taylor spoke after radiologist Johan Stipp finished giving his evidence and was questioned by defence lawyer Barry Roux.

Yesterday, Mr Stipp described how Pistorius knelt at Reeva Steenkamp’s side and struggled in vain to help her breathe by holding two fingers in her clenched mouth.

Mr Stipp said he went to Pistorius’ home after hearing shots fired on the night Ms Steenkamp was killed and found “a lady lying on her back”.

“I also noticed a man kneeling on her side, on the left side. I remember the first thing he said when I got there was ‘I shot her, I thought she was an intruder. I shot her,'” Mr Stipp told the court.

He said he did not recognise Pistorius, and described how he tried in vain to resuscitate Ms Steenkamp.

“She had no pulse in her neck, she had no peripheral pulse, she had no breathing movements that she made,” he said.

“She was clenching down on Oscar’s fingers as he was trying to open her airway.

“I tried to do a jaw lift manoeuvre, to try to open the airway, but it was very difficult with the clenching down.

“All during that time, there wasn’t any signs of life that I could see.

“I opened her right eyelid. The pupil was fixed dilated, and the cornea was milky – in other words, it was already drying out.

“So to me it was obvious she was mortally wounded.

“I looked at the rest of her body and I noted she had a wound in her right thigh, also a wound in the right upper arm.

“During that time … Oscar was crying all the time. He prayed to God to ‘please let her live, she must not die’.

“He said at one stage while he was praying ‘he will dedicate his life and her life to God if she would just only live and not die that night’.”

He added that Pistorius looked “sincere”: “He was crying, there were tears on his face. He was actively trying to assist her.”

Sky’s Alex Crawford, who was in court, said Pistorius was openly sobbing as the evidence was given.

On top of the premeditated murder allegation, Pistorius faces a charge of illegally possessing ammunition and two further counts related to shooting a gun in public in two separate incidents before the killing.

He denies all the charges against him and maintains he shot Ms Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder.

The athlete could face 25 years in jail if he is found guilty by Judge Thokozile Masipa. South Africa does not have trials by jury.

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