Oscar Pistorius: did the Daily Mail lie about the bloody cricket bat and Reeva’s head injuries?
OSCAR Pistorius murder trial: did the Daily Mail make-up the claim that Reeva Steenkamp’s head had been crushed with a cricket bat? And was it suicide?
The Daily Star leads with the entirely uncorroborated Daily Mail claim that Oscar Pistorius struck Reeva Steenkamp about the head with a cricket bat. He did this not to resuscitate her, rather to hurt her, allegedly. The paper’s front-page headline declares:
“Pistorius smashed lover’s head in with bat”
Headlines are classified under “opinion”. So, the Star can state what it likes on its front page with limited censure. As ever, this scoop has no named sources, is denied by police and is utterly unproven – Pistorius denies murdering Steenkamp lover; he says he used the bat to smash down the toilet door after he had fired through it.
Over in the Sun, the front page declares:
“Last photo of Pistorius girl – REEVA DRIVES TO HER DEATH”
Driving to her death makes it sound as if Steenkamp is complicit in her own murder, making a wilful trip to meet the Grim Reaper.
CCTV clip shows Reeva smile as model drives to her death
You see. She made him do it. Case closed.
Swapping banter with one of the security guards, carefree Reeva is waved through with a Valentine’s gift for the lover she expected to spend a romantic night with.
Carefree. So. No hint of fear in returning to her lover’s home.
Soon afterwards the cameras at the Silver Woods estate caught Pistorius arriving in a luxury white car. He too looked relaxed.
And then the Sun relays that line about the cricket bat:
Following the alleged murder Reeva’s family were said to have been told she was also smashed round the head with a cricket bat — but her half-brother Adam, 36, yesterday denied police said any such thing.
But the Mail told us:
Pistorius ‘DID beat model girlfriend with a cricket bat’ before he shot her police tell horrified family and relatives have seen her extensive head injuries
Not told. They saw the injuries.
…grieving relatives who saw her body before Tuesday’s cremation in Port Elizabeth described horrific injuries from the cricket bat, and entry wounds from 9mm bullets fired by Pistorius.
Says the aforesaid Adam in the Sun:
The dad of two — who works at Cambridge University — said Reeva did have a mark on her head, but that was from one of the bullets. He said: “Me, my dad Barry and stepmum June saw her at the funeral. There was a head wound but not anything else.”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Sports Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
