Oscar Pistorius legal team pushes for leniency during his sentencing hearing in South Africa

The Paralympic athlete killed Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

In March, Pistorius’s lawyers failed in their legal bid to reverse a Supreme Court of Appeal judgement that upgraded his original conviction f-rom culpable homicide -- the equivalent of manslaughter -- to murder.

“It has been very difficult for me to forgive... I feel that Oscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for his crime,” Barry Steenkamp, 73, said shaking with emotion and in tears.

“She must have been in so much fear and pain,” he said, reliving the horror of learning how she was killed. “It must have been absolutely awful.” He also said that he believed the couple had argued on the night of the murder -- disputing Pistorius’s claims.

Barry Steenkamp, father of murdered Reeva Steenkamp gestures as he testifies at the Pretoria High Court. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Reliving how his daughter, 29, died, he said: “What she must have gone through in those split seconds -- she must have been in so much fear and pain. That is what I think of, all the time.” “It must have been absolutely awful.” He also said that he believed the couple had argued on the night of the murder -- disputing Pistorius’s claims.

Pistorius had his head in his hands and appeared to be sobbing during the testimony at the High Court in the South African capital Pretoria.

Barry Steenkamp, a former racehorse trainer, described the chaos and panic when his wife June rang him at work early in the morning after Reeva was shot.

“June grieves like I do all the time. I hear her at night, I hear her crying, I hear her talking to Reeva,” he said, adding that June had tried to forgive Pistorius to help her cope with the loss of her daughter.

Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp as a couple. Picture: APSource:AP

A judge has already heard he was a “broken” man whose mental state has deteriorated and he should be hospitalised and not jailed.

Prosecutors, seeking a long jail term for him after his conviction was changed to murder, immediately challenged that opinion.

For one, they c-harged that Pistorius confronted a police witness in an aggressive manner at the courthouse on an earlier occasion.

Pistorius is currently living under house arrest after initially serving one year of a five-year prison sentence for manslaughter for shooting Steenkamp in 2013. But that manslaughter conviction was overturned last year by South Africa’s Supreme Court, which convicted Pistorius of the more serious c-harge of murder.

Oscar Pistorius appears in the High Court in Pretoria, on the second day of the double-amputee runner's sentencing hearing. Picture: APSource:AP

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who initially acquitted Pistorius of murder, will decide the new sentence. The hearing is scheduled to run through Friday this week.

Pistorius’ lawyers are arguing for leniency. South Africa has a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for murder, although a judge can reduce that in some circumstances.

Dressed in a dark suit, Pistorius sat calmly on a bench during the testimony yesterday, mostly with his head down and sometimes covering his eyes with a hand.

The courtroom was packed with relatives, journalists and other onlookers. Police officers lined the wood-panelled walls. Barry and June Steenkamp, the parents of the model Pistorius killed by shooting multiple times through a toilet door in his home in 2013, were also present.

Barry and June Steenkamp, parents of late Reeva Steenkamp, arrive at the Pretoria High Court. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Clinical psychologist Prof. Jonathan Scholtz said Pistorius was “quite ill” and struggled with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Scholtz evaluated Pistorius in 2014, during his murder trial, and again last month.

Pistorius was now “despondent and lethargic, disinvested, and leaves his future in the hands of God,” Scholtz said. He said he did not think Pistorius would be able to testify at the sentencing hearing because of his psychological problems.

Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel pounced on that in his cross-examination of Scholtz, pointing out that Pistorius had recently given a TV interview but now claimed to be unable to testify in court.

Prosecutors had depicted Pistorius as an arrogant figure with a sense of entitlement and a love of guns.

State Prosecutor, Gerrie Nels, gestures inside the high court in Pretoria. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Nel subjected Scholtz to sharp questioning, referring to the courthouse incident with the police witness and trying to show that Pistorius was not a changed, remorseful man.

Nel quoted Pistorius as saying to the police officer: “Please give us space and privacy. You didn’t do your job in any case.” The prosecutor said the defence team apologised for the spat. Pistorius’ defence lawyer did not immediately comment on the allegation.

Nel also said Scholtz had disregarded a prison report that Pistorius was “aggressive and verbally violent” toward officials at the beginning of his imprisonment.

Arnold and Lois Pistorius, uncle and aunt of Oscar, arrive at North Gauteng High Court. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

In his testimony, Scholtz recommended that Pistorius first be treated in a hospital rather than go to jail, and then work with underprivileged children. He noted that Pistorius had sold his guns, becomes jumpy even at the sound of gunfire on television, and is unlikely to resort to violence again.

He said Pistorius was subjected to several “traumatic and humiliating experiences” in prison, including being forced to shower while sitting on the concrete floor because of his disability, and being treated “like an animal in a cage.” Nel challenged Scholtz on some of the claims.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux inside the courtroom. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

For example, Scholtz said Pistorius told him that he had heard an inmate being raped by another, and later saw the body of the alleged victim after he had hanged himself. Nel disputed the assertion. Nel also said Pistorius was not confined to his cell for 18 hours a day, as the psychologist said he was, but rather was allowed to walk around a separate wing of the prison he shared with only one other inmate. “He complained about everything,” Nel said of Pistorius.