Conflicting claims over Pistorius nightclub brawl
The trial is on a month-long break. But Oscar Pistorius is in the limelight again after a row in a nightclub. Channel 4 News talks to Jared Mortimer, who was involved in an argument with the athlete.
That there was a brawl on Saturday night is not in dispute. Who started it and what caused it – well the answer to that depends on who you talk to, writes South African journalist Debora Patta.
When news broke on a South African celebrity website that Oscar Pistorius was involved in an altercation at a Johannesburg club on Saturday night, his PR machine went on the offensive.
Zuma works for us. I’ll piss on Zuma Pistorius, according to Jared Mortimer
They confirmed the Paralympic athlete was at the nightclub with one of his cousins. The pair were apparently sitting in a “quiet area of the private VIP section” when they were approached by a guest at the club: Jared Mortimer.
“The individual in question, according to our client, started to aggressively engage him on matters relating to the trial,” Pistorius’s spokesperson said. “An argument ensued during which our client asked to be left alone. Oscar left soon thereafter with his cousin.
“Our client regrets the decision to go into a public place and thereby inviting unwelcome attention.” (Pistorius’s family later issued another statement – see below).
‘He started insulting one of my friends’
But Jared Mortimer tells a different story – that it was Pistorius who was aggressive. He told Channel 4 News that Pistorius appeared to be extremely drunk and was claims he was constantly having his photo taken with young women.
“Oscar knew one of my friends and said, ‘Oh, you are the infamous Jared Mortimer.’ He immediately started talking about his friends and how they had backstabbed him,” said Mr Mortimer. “Then he started insulting one of my friends and saying he had information that could bury him.”
Things got even uglier according to Mr Mortimer: “He was boasting about how important and influential his family was. He was showing me photos of armoured cars and said; ‘My family supplies the SANDF. Zuma works for us. I’ll piss on Zuma.'”
Mr Mortimer claims that Pistorius started poking him in the chest and pulling on his neck in a very rough manner.
That’s when Mortimer said he pushed Oscar, who fell into a chair, before bouncers intervened.
He also told Channel 4 News that he couldn’t get over “how arrogantly” Pistorius behaved.
VIP Room: a place ‘to throw cash around’
The incident occurred at the upmarket VIP Room in the plush Johannesburg suburb of Sandton. This is where the wealthy elite of Johannesburg hang out – a club known for its A-list, often invitation-only clientele. A regular guest said: “It’s a place to be seen, to throw around cash. And you need a lot of cash to spend there.
“If you want to book a table, you have to guarantee you will spend a certain minimum amount on the bar before they let you in.”
Whilst Pistorius’s bail conditions were relaxed to allow him to drink alcohol, eyebrows have been raised over this latest incident.
Local Johannesburg talk radio stations were abuzz with the news – with listeners phoning in demanding to know what on earth Pistorius was doing out on the town in the middle of his murder trial.
Update: Wednesday morning (GMT)
Pistorius’s family have issued another statement in the wake of the Saturday night altercation. In it they accuse Jared Mortimer of being the aggressor but concede that a visit to a club during his trial was “unwise” and “ill-conceived”.
They blame it on what they call Pistorius’s “escalating sense of loneliness and isolation” and say this is “underlying some of his self-harming behaviour. “We do however believe that Oscar is grappling with an extreme level of emotional pain that is manifesting itself in some of his recent unwise actions and choices.”
Regarding Mr Mortimer’s account that Pistorius trashed the South African President Jacob Zuma – the family says this is completely untrue and that “Oscar was at school with one of President Zuma’s sons and liked him a lot. Oscar also has great appreciation of President Zuma’s extraordinary supper of the paralympians.”
Mortimer however, is sticking to his story. He says “how else would I know about the SANDF and Zuma? How else would it have come up? Why would I make something like that up?”
And in the latest twist to the tale, he has challenged Pistorius to a polygraph test.