<p>The lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius investigation faces seven charges of attempted murder, South African police revealed today, leaving the prosecution case against the star sprinter in tatters.<br /><br />Police made the shock announcement as Pistorius himself suffered a new blow when US sportswear giant Nike said it has suspended its contract with the double amputee champion known as "Blade Runner".<br /><br />Pistorius was back in court on Thursday for the third day of a bail hearing over the Valentine's Day shooting of his 29-year-old model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.<br /><br />Detective Hilton Botha, whose testimony was repeatedly challenged by defence attorneys on Wednesday, is facing charges for shooting at a minibus taxi in 2009, police said.</p>.<p><br />"We were only informed yesterday that attempted murder charges against Hilton Botha have been reinstated," police spokesman Neville Malila told AFP.<br /><br />Pistorius's lawyers had torn into Botha's police work at Wednesday's hearing, undermining his witnesses and forcing him to agree that the Olympian's version of events fitted the crime scene.<br /><br />"It sounds consistent," Botha told the court.<br /><br />Prosecutors allege it was a premeditated killing, but Pistorius has said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot repeatedly through a locked bathroom door in the dead of night and did not intend to kill her.<br /><br />The law graduate and cover girl was found by medics covered in bloodied towels and wearing white shorts and a black vest, with bullet wounds to her head, elbow and hip.<br />Today, defence lawyer Barry Roux again pilloried Botha and what he called "disastrous shortcomings in the state's case".<br /><br />The Olympian and Paralympian sprinter, who has been in custody for a week, could face months or perhaps years in pre-trial detention if he does not win bail. </p>
<p>The lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius investigation faces seven charges of attempted murder, South African police revealed today, leaving the prosecution case against the star sprinter in tatters.<br /><br />Police made the shock announcement as Pistorius himself suffered a new blow when US sportswear giant Nike said it has suspended its contract with the double amputee champion known as "Blade Runner".<br /><br />Pistorius was back in court on Thursday for the third day of a bail hearing over the Valentine's Day shooting of his 29-year-old model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.<br /><br />Detective Hilton Botha, whose testimony was repeatedly challenged by defence attorneys on Wednesday, is facing charges for shooting at a minibus taxi in 2009, police said.</p>.<p><br />"We were only informed yesterday that attempted murder charges against Hilton Botha have been reinstated," police spokesman Neville Malila told AFP.<br /><br />Pistorius's lawyers had torn into Botha's police work at Wednesday's hearing, undermining his witnesses and forcing him to agree that the Olympian's version of events fitted the crime scene.<br /><br />"It sounds consistent," Botha told the court.<br /><br />Prosecutors allege it was a premeditated killing, but Pistorius has said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot repeatedly through a locked bathroom door in the dead of night and did not intend to kill her.<br /><br />The law graduate and cover girl was found by medics covered in bloodied towels and wearing white shorts and a black vest, with bullet wounds to her head, elbow and hip.<br />Today, defence lawyer Barry Roux again pilloried Botha and what he called "disastrous shortcomings in the state's case".<br /><br />The Olympian and Paralympian sprinter, who has been in custody for a week, could face months or perhaps years in pre-trial detention if he does not win bail. </p>