Pretoria // Oscar Pistorius is a “broken” man who should be hospitalised rather than jailed, a South African court heard on Monday, as the Paralympic athlete awaits sentencing for the murder of his girlfriend three years ago.
Prosecutors immediately challenged that opinion of Pistorius in their cross-examination, charging that the double-amputee confronted a police witness at the courthouse on an earlier occasion.
Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet. He said he mistook her for an intruder.
Red-eyed, tearful and sometimes resting his head in his hands, the 29-year-old “Blade Runner” attended the first day of his sentencing hearing at the high court in Pretoria along with members of his family.
“He has developed a serious psychiatric condition which has become worse in the past two years,” psychologist Jonathan Scholtz, called by the defence, told the court.
“Further imprisonment would have a detrimental effect on him.”
Dr Scholtz said that during recent interviews Pistorius had displayed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and depressive disorder.
“Currently he is not able to testify [to the court]. His condition is severe,” he said.
Pistorius has shunned the media during years of intense coverage since Steenkamp’s killing, but his family revealed that he has given his first interview, due to air on British broadcaster ITV later this month.
The interview drew a sharp attack from 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,” said Mr Nel, who accused psychologist Dr Scholtz of being biased.
In March, Pistorius’s lawyers failed in their legal bid to reverse a supreme court of appeal judgement that upgraded his original conviction from culpable homicide — the equivalent of manslaughter — to murder.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, who initially acquitted Pistorius of murder at his trial, will decide his new sentence after hearing arguments from both prosecution and defence. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to run through Friday this week.
Pistorius’ lawyers are arguing for some leniency from a judge when she decides his sentence. He 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.
Steenkamp’s parents were both in court on Monday, and her father Barry may take the witness box to ask the court to impose a lengthy punishment.
If he does, it will be the first time that one of Steenkamp’s parents has testified in the case.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
