“I’m scared of you sometimes…” Steenkamp wrote Pistorius 3 wks before death

Clockwise from left: Oscar Pistorius, his sister Aimee, W/O Hilton Botha and Reeva Steenkamp, Pistorius's late girlfriend

Oscar Pistorius’s girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp told the athlete he sometimes scared her in a text message sent less than three weeks before he shot her dead, his murder trial heard Monday.

“I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you react to me,” Steenkamp said via messaging service WhatsApp after the athlete apparently accused her of flirting with another man.

With the state moving to wrap up its case as the trial entered its fourth week, police cellphone expert Francois Moller read out exchanges that painted Pistorius as a critical and jealous boyfriend.

The double amputee Paralympic gold medallist wept as the messages were shared with the court.

“You do everything to throw tantrums in front of people,” Steenkamp said about being accused of flirting with a friend’s husband.

In another message, the model and law graduate pointed to being “loudly” criticised at a function she attended with the athlete.

“I can’t be attacked by outsiders for dating you and be attacked by you, the one person I deserve protection from,” she said.