PISTORIUS SENTENCING: STEENKAMP'S FAMILY SEEKS JAIL TERM

                                                                           

 

 

 

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius should be given "sufficient punishment" for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, her cousin has told the sentencing hearing in Pretoria.

Kim Martin said Pistorius, 27, "needs to pay for what he has done".

He was convicted of culpable homicide last month but cleared of murder and faces up to 15 years in jail, but the judge may suspend it or impose a fine.

Prisons chief Moleko Modise later said the athlete would be safe in prison.

He was responding to a defence witness who said the disabled athlete would be "broken" by prison, with his lawyers saying he should instead serve house arrest and community service for the killing.

Judge Thokozile Masipa has adjourned the sentencing hearing until Friday morning.

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Pretoria says it appears that the sentence itself will be delivered on Tuesday.

'Not seeking revenge'

Ms Martin - the prosecution's first sentencing witness - said on Thursday that she was fearful of Pistorius.

"My family are not people who are seeking revenge, we just feel that to shoot somebody behind a door that is unarmed, that is harmless, needs sufficient punishment," she said.

On Wednesday, Ms Martin recounted her pain at hearing that the 29-year-old South African model had been shot dead, saying her death was "the end of the world".

We got glimpses in court on Thursday both of the prison life Oscar Pistorius can expect if Judge Masipa chooses a custodial sentence for him, and of the rather abrasive characters who once were part of his social circle.

In recent days the public gallery in courtroom D has seen an influx of conspicuously muscular men who've sat close to Reeva Steenkamp's family. Marc Batchelor is a former footballer and debt collector who has clashed with Pistorius in the past. Mikey Schultz is a self-confessed killer and former boxer. Mark Strydom is, according to legal sources, on parole after serving time for attempted murder and assault.

At one point Mr Schultz and Mr Strydom sat, unexpectedly, on the bench reserved for the Pistorius family, and according to the defendant's brother Carl, Mr Schultz mouthed an obscenity at his sister Aimee, leaving her in tears. Mr Schultz told me later that he'd done no such thing but agreed with Mr Strydom and Mr Batchelor that, in his opinion, Oscar Pistorius was "a murderer" who was "getting off lightly".

Moleko Modise, the Acting National Commissioner for Correctional Services, was later called to defend the reputation of South African prisons, which he said "can cope" with disabled prisoners like Pistorius.

He said that a health assessment was conducted on all inmates "within six hours of admission", and a complete assessment would be completed within 21 days to consider the "security classification" and "social and psychological needs" of the prisoner.

Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Barry Roux, Mr Modise said he thought Pistorius should be placed in the hospital wing of a prison, not the regular section.

Mr Roux cited reports of undiagnosed tuberculosis in South African prisons, as well as rising numbers of incidents of assault and torture in the past year.

Under questioning, Mr Modise said there was one resident doctor for about 7,000 inmates at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.

Mr Roux also said several newspapers had reported threats made by prisoners against Pistorius. However, Mr Modise said he was not aware of any threats being made against Pistorius.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has said he will call three or four witnesses in all.

'Pistorius vulnerable'

Earlier in the week, social worker Annette Vergeer said double-amputee Pistorius should be placed under house arrest rather than sent to prison, because he would be "a lot more vulnerable than the normal man" in jail.

Mr Nel said her opinion of a sentence of house arrest plus community service "cannot be considered".

"If the court sentence is too light, and society loses trust in the court, they will take the law into their own hands," Mr Nel said.

"That's what the court has to guard against."

The Paralympic sprinter denied murdering Ms Steenkamp after a row on Valentine's Day last year, saying he shot her by mistake, fearing there was an intruder in the house.

Ms Steenkamp, a law graduate, was hit three times by bullets shot through a toilet door by Pistorius at his home in the capital, Pretoria.