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South Africa

Oscar Pistorius is a ‘broken man’

Author: News Australia

June 13, 2016 at 09:17

SOUTH African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is a “broken” man who should be hospitalised rather than jailed, a psychologist has claimed.

Pistorius arrived at court, followed by close to 20 police officers as he entered the final stretch of a protracted legal battle that could see him back in jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and black tie, Pistorius attended the hearing along with members of his family.

Psychologist Professor Jonathan Scholtz has revealed more about Pistorius’s mental state, saying he has serious depression and it has worsened since 2014.

He also said he is traumatised by the sound of gunfire, even it it is in a film, and never wants to touch a gun again.

He aded that he prays regularly, and knows his fate is in God’s hands.

“Currently my opinion is, he is not able to testify, his condition is severe,” he said.

Professor Scholtz said his time in isolation in jail for his own safety had left him suffering like “an animal in a cage”.

He developed an infection in his stumps because he had to stand on a shower floor for the first five weeks he was in jail.

"Further imprisonment would have a detrimental effect on him as a person, considering his current clinical condition.” Scholtz said that during recent interviews Pistorius had displayed signs of “post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and depressive disorder”.

TV interview criticised

Pistorius has shunned the media during years of intense coverage since Steenkamp’s killing, but his family have revealed that he has given his first interview, due to air on British broadcaster ITV later this month.

The interview drew a sharp attack f-rom state prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who said it proved that Pistorius was capable of testifying.

“He would rather give his version to the TV than to court,” Nel said. Pistorius was released f-rom jail last October to live under house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria after serving one year of his five-year sentence for culpable homicide.

If he is sentenced to more than five years this time around, he will have to serve at least two-thirds of the term before he qualifies for parole.

Since being convicted of murder, Pistorius has been on bail and allowed to leave his uncle’s house at set times, but not travel further than 20 kilometres without permission.

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrives at Pretoria High Court to attend a sentencing hearing set to send him back to jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Sentence expected this week

A lawyer close to the case said the sentencing could take place on Friday. Steenkamp’s relatives, including mother and father, were also present as proceedings opened in the High Court in Pretoria.

The double-amputee killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for an intruder 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 judgment that upgraded his original conviction f-rom culpable homicide — the equivalent of manslaughter — to murder.

The original trial judge Thokozile Masipa is expected to pass a new sentence after hearing arguments f-rom both prosecution and defence this week. The prosecution will be pushing for a tougher penalty.

The 29-year-old “Blade Runner” faces a minimum 15-year jail term for murder, but his sentence could be reduced due to time already spent in prison and mitigating factors, including his disability.

Legal experts expected Pistorius to take the stand to express remorse.

Oscar Pistorius is surrounded by policemen as he arrives at the Pretoria High Court today. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

“Contriteness is a very important sentencing factor. If someone apologises and shows remorse, that is a strong mitigation factor,” said criminal law expert Martin Hood.

Britain’s Sunday Telegraph reported that Steenkamp’s father Barry could also take the witness stand to ask the court to impose a lengthy punishment.

If he does, it will be the first time one of Steenkamp’s parents has testified in the case.

Pistorius was released f-rom jail last October to live under house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria after serving one year of his five-year sentence for culpable homicide.

Reeva Steenkamp father Barry and mother June arrive at the Pretoria High Court for the sentencing hearing set to send South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius back to jail. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Minimum 15-year jail

If he is sentenced to more than five years this time around, he will have to serve at least two thirds of the term before he qualifies for parole.

Analysts estimate that he could be sentenced to between eight and 12 years, but the prosecution is pushing for at least 15.

“When it is not premeditated and when a person is a first offender, (murder) carries a minimum of 15 years ... and we have the responsibility to ensure that the provisions of the law are applied,” said the National Prosecution Authority’s Luvuyo Mfaku.

South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp in happier times. Picture: APSource:AP

Since being convicted of murder, he has been on bail and allowed to leave the house at set times, but not travel further than 20 kilometres without permission.

The case at the High Court in Pretoria was scheduled to last until Friday, though the sentence could be handed down earlier.

Oscar Pistorius's uncle’s house in Pretoria, South Africa whe-re Pistorius has been under house arrest. Picture: APSource:AP

A lawyer close to the case told AFP on condition of anonymity that it should take three days for both sides to present evidence and “the judge may come back to deliver sentence on Friday.” Pistorius has always denied killing Steenkamp in a rage and, during his dramatic seven-month trial in 2014, sobbed in the dock as details of his lover’s death were examined in excruciating detail.

The year before he killed Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level when he appeared at the London 2012 games.

He has since lost his glittering sports career, lucrative contracts and status as a global role model for the disabled.