Oscar was an appalling witness - Nel

Pretoria - Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius was an appalling witness, the North Gauteng High Court heard on Thursday.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said he was argumentative and gave vague responses to questions put to him.

Nel said Pistorius was not totally truthful with the court.

"We'll deal with why he would lie," said Nel.

"He lied because he thought it was better to hide behind the untruth," Nel said.

Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year. Pistorius has denied guilt, saying he thought she was an intruder about to open the door and attack him. The State contends he shot her during an argument.

Untrue version of events

Submitting his closing arguments on Thursday, Nel accused Pistorius of tailoring an untrue version of events as he was more concerned with the implications rather than with the truth.

He referred to the testimony of security guard Pieter Baba, who called Pistorius's residence shortly after the shooting.

Baba testified that Pistorius told him that "everything was fine" when he called inquiring about the shots.

Nel said Pistorius failed to ask the security guard for help.

Barry Roux, for Pistorius, attentively followed Nel's arguments, at times removing his glasses and placing their tip in his mouth.