Well, on the grounds of reasonable behaviour by a reasonable person, I don't see it's in doubt. I live in Joburg, a much more dangerous place than OP's estate. I've been broken into. It was dark. I knew EXACTLY where my wife and kids were - I didn't, and wouldn't, dream of shooting through a closed door. It beggars belief that he can wander around the bedroom, with enough light to bring fans in from a balcony, yet not check if his girlfriend was sleeping in bed rather than standing behind the door.

That's speculation. (at risk of repeating myself). Still need to have proof he intended to murder her.

Four shots, was he aiming for appendages through the closed door? Fired accidentally of course.

Of course it is, but speculation on the basis of what I did in a similar situation. What's yours based on?

I've said before, at 4 in the morning, if it were pitch black (an investigator at the trial said he went there on a moonless night and it was pitch black - whether that be right or wrong), I'd get up on the assumption my wife was in bed. Would I check. No. I've heard noises. That's my priority - to investigate the noise.

But on the other side of the coin. Would I shoot the intruder? No. But I've never been surrounded by guns. Would I call out to the toilet "Who's in there"? Probably.

So there's 1 thing I would do that's consistent with what OP said and 2 things that are not, but none of what I would do in that situation or what you would do has any bearing on what he did on the night.

It's all speculation and guess work at best.

Stop looking at it through UK/Aussie glasses. If you and your wife lived in South Africa and you heard bumps in the night in your en-suite bathroom that you believed to be intruders, you'd establish two way contact with your wife at the very least and she'd immediately respond.

If you want to pull out the stereo type, and if I lived in South Africa, then I'd definitely go for the gun, one of the dozen I have under the bed, shoot the sh*t out of the whole bathroom, then come back and beat the wife, and finish it off with 3 steaks and a castle lager.

How the fl*k can you actually speculate what "you would do" in a situation your were never in. As I've said previously, when I got burgled at 4 in the morning, I thought it was my flatmate wandering around my house. A few hours later when I got up I was so pissed off I said "I wish I had gone and beat the daylights out of the burglar". In hindsight I'm glad I didn't go and investigate. It was 4 in the morning, I was half asleep, I would have been in my pants, with no weapon, confronting a desperate thief. I can tell you who would have won and it wouldn't have been me.

The fact of the matter is that most of us live (I might exclude myself if I may) fairly sheltered lives and noone really knows might happen when the shit hits the fan. I've done things unexpectedly and many of those things were when I was in my teens and 20s and less so now.

If nothing else, P comes across as a rabid excitable loon. So it is almost certainly manslaughter.

Does he. I wouldn't know. Some have tried to suggest he is aggressive, likes guns, beats wives, etc. Whether or not he has these traits has no resemblance to the facts of the case. His family and close friends may have a different opinion. Again no resemblance.

He may have intentionally shot her, he may not have. Nothing will ever be conclusive as its his word against a prosecutor. I don't envy the job the judge has. Popular opinion will want him convicted of murder. Unless something absolutely conclusive comes forward the judge has got a very tough decision to make.

Either way OP will live with the punishment of murdering his girlfriend or live with the fact he made a terrible mistake of misjudgment. If it's the latter it would be wrong to see him wrongly convicted. If its the former then he'll get punished but they will want to be damn sure he committed murder.

Nobody said he was a wife beater. I suggested that he is a wife abusing type - subtle difference. There's lots of evidence of aggression and liking guns if you care to study the case.

I agree that it's a tough gig for the judge. The whole purpose of televising this case is to show that the rich, privileged and popular are just as subject to the rule of law as any other member of the South African public, meaning the judge will have to be seen to be tough - though that hasn't actually been the case so far. And by televising it the world has also been given the role of judge in this jury-less system.

I think the truth is they had a row, he turned aggressive, she locked herself in the toilet for refuge and in a fit of rage he fired his weapon through the door and he's lied about it in an attempt to escape justice. It's a high stakes game he's playing. If the judge believes him the sentence could be very light indeed but if she finds that he lied then she will have to throw the book at him.

Study the case ...... Please ..... Down off your horse.

You think the sentence would be less if he went in and said. 'My lady, I intentionally killed my girlfriend?"

I have no horse to get down from but if you look through your posts on this thread it's obvious that you have done a lot of blustering on and not much studying of the case nor do you show any understanding of the South African backdrop and how it differs to the UK or Australian one. Interesting really because on another thread that you contribute to you seem to know where things are at but on this you appear to be quite clueless.

Some argue that the truth might have been a better course of action. Takes courage though.

He has done nothing but lie all the way through, his ridiculous story is full of holes and it is obvious to literally anyone he is as guilty as sin. There is no way in the world any sane person would just shoot 4 times into a room without knowing where your partner is.

That's the key sentence for me. Just doesn't make sense to me - and it happened to me. I didn't think for a second about doing something until I knew where everyone was. That was pure instinct.

Exactly, I cant imagine anyone just opening fire with no idea where the others in the house were unless of course they knew exactly were the other person was. If he gets off it will be the greatest travesty of celebrity justice since OJ.