Live coverage of the moment day of sentencing hearing in which Pistorius could face 15 years in prison for murder of Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 1.28pm BSTOscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for it …That is up to the court. And we will go by the decision that the court hands down to Oscar. But he has to pay for his crime.
But I hear her crying at night. I hear her talking to Reeva. She feels just as much as I do. 1.04pm BSTNel says he has another,final witness to argue in aggravation of sentence but would like to total that testimony in one day – so would rather wait until tomorrow.
He says he does not want to take a chance of the evidence carrying overnight.
It will be emotional evidence, I don’t want to do that to the witness.
Nel: I’m just doing the best I can for my witnesses … My only concern is I don’t want to maintain the witness overnight. 12.59pm BSTRoux has an intervention.
He says the final questioning implied that molipaxin and cipralex were not prescribed. He says they were. Nel agrees. 12.58pm BSTNel picks up the drugs-in-cell theme.
Mr Roux wants to disclose you that this accused was hoarding medicine prescribed for anxiety and depression. Do you know how many tablets a day he was supposed to take? 12.57pm BSTGerrie Nel begins his re-examination of prison nurse Charlotte Mashabane.
He turns to her incident report. She reads from it approximately the occasion in which Pistorius was, or she says “disrespectful”,excited and shaking, banging the table with a small book. 12.53pm BST#OscarPistorius Roux wants to ask her approximately OP’s two black eyes. he says he was assaulted when someone got into the hospital sectionRoux says Pistorius did not report the attack to prison authorities but told his psychologist. 12.46pm BSTRoux wants to know more approximately the medication found in Pistorius’ cell: molipaxin and cipralex. Do staff supervise inmates taking each pill?Mashabane says they do not. So he could carry his pills back to his cell, and Roux asks. You didn’t know whether he was actually taking them. He did not gain to drink it there and then. 12.36pm BSTAfter the emotional testimony of Barry Steenkamp this morning – and Roux’s understandably brief cross-examination – the defence’s time spent on this witness is puzzling some court observers:#OscarPistorius Skys legal expert Llewelyn Curlewis believes Defence now getting bogged down in tackling prison nurse official 12.33pm BSTPrison nurse Charlotte Mashabane,called by the state, is still on the stand. She’s being cross-examined by Barry Roux for the defence. 12.17pm BSTMy colleague Jason Burke has filed this report from the court in Pretoria:The father of Reeva Steenkamp has said he and his wife gain forgiven Oscar Pistorius, and but this did not mean he should not pay for his crime.
In emotional testimony before a crowded courtroom in Pretoria on the moment day of Pistorius’s sentencing hearing,Barry Steenkamp described how his family had been devastated by the killing.
“What she must gain gone through in those split seconds. She must gain been in so much fear and pain. That is what I reflect of all the time. I can see it myself. It must gain been absolutely and utterly poor,” Steenkamp said.
Barry Roux, and main the defence team,did not cross-examine Steenkamp, saying only: “We understand and we are very, or very sorry. Whatever we do and say it cannot bring her back.” Related: Emotional Barry Steenkamp says Pistorius must pay for Reeva's murder 12.04pm BSTThe judge says the court will take a half-hour break for lunch.
She addresses the courtroom. We are not at a picnic,she says. Sometimes witnesses say things that are funny, but she warns the gallery:Please restrain yourselves, and we are in a court of law. 12.01pm BSTPrior to that incident,Pistorius was “a kind person”, Mashabane says.
Roux makes her repeat that. Twice. 11.59am BSTRoux pushes her: why would she feel threatened?In the incident in which she walked into his cell while he was sleeping, or he was in his underpants,he says. No, Mashabane tells him: he was under a blanket and pulled it over his head, and speaking to her rudely. 11.57am BSTRoux hands Mashabane a prison register. Where on here does it say Pistorius was happy with the rub-rub,he wants to know.
Take your time, he tells her.
Roux: I’m still trying to understand the purpose of your evidence … Are you coming to disclose the court that he’s a violent person?Mashabane: I’m not coming to disclose the court that he’s a violent- 11.51am BST#OscarPistorius Mashabane refused to give OP the Voltaren his family brought him because it had not been prescribed. BBRoux sounds incredulous: we could walk to a pharmacy now and get Voltaren, or he tells her. His hand was fractured and you would not let him gain an x-ray,only “rub-rub”. 11.47am BSTRoux is picking apart Mashabane’s description of the table-banging incident.
She says he was shaking and she stayed peaceful.
And now it’s become a notebook. So it was never with his fist. 11.42am BSTWas what Pistorius was asking so base, Roux wants to know. The prison medication didn’t work – he simply wanted his own medication.
It was the attitude, and Mashabane tells him. He was excited. He demanded medication that was not allowed.
Why do I get the impression that you want to say something approximately him that’s negative because the two of you are not very compatible personalities? 11.38am BSTRoux clarifies that Mashabane interacted with Pistorius every day for approximately six months.#Pistorius Roux: He said he wants his medication - was that so terrible. Mashabane: (very forcefully) It was terrible!#OscarPistorius Mashabane induces laughs in court when she says it was ‘terrible’ that OP had unknown medicines in the prison 11.35am BSTNel turns to the evidence yesterday approximately Pistorius witnessing a hanging.
Mashabane says the ward in question was not visible from the hospital wing where Pistorius was held: Ward 4 is very far from where Mr Pistorius was staying.
11.33am BSTMashabane says that in court Pistorius greeted all officials apart from herIt didn’t worry me … It is his choice. 11.32am BSTNel asks who would gain had action to the wing where Pistorius was kept. Mashabane says there is a security guard,and other inmates are not allowed in there.
Yesterday, the court was told by the defence witness that Pistorius was assaulted. Mashabane says there was no report of that and she would gain known approximately it. 11.29am BSTMashabane says that “after several incidents” with Pistorius, and she was asked not to “interact any more” with him.
After that she never worked with him again,she tells the court. 11.28am BSTNel asks if Pistorius was taking antidepressant drugs molipaxin and cipralex.
Mashabane says he had these medications when he was admitted. They should be kept by prison staff.#OscarPistorius Mashabane say they would never gain given him the large amount of medicine that was found with him - only daily meds.
MV 11.25am BSTMashabane says that when a family member brings in a medication, it has to be cleared.
Pistorius’ family brought something for him in February 2015, or she says.
He started again with tantrums again. 11.17am BSTMashabane says Pistorius applied to be seen by his private doctor,Dr Van Wyk. She rang this doctor herself, she tells the court, or then drove to speak to her. She tells the court she did not want to slow down the process.
Nel asks if Van Wyk told her that she was Pistorius’ cousin. Mashabane says she did not. 11.13am BSTThis is perhaps two separate confrontations; we gain now moved to the table-banging episode.
Mashabane is now talking approximately another occasion when she was told Pistorius was looking for her. He wanted a supplement and a device that were not prescribed,she says, and the prison doctor was unfamiliar with it. 11.07am BSTMashabane is asked approximately the confrontation mentioned in court yesterday – when Pistorius reportedly banged on a table in front of her.
She confirms there was a confrontation during her morning rounds. He shouted and screamed at her, and she says:He said,get out, get out, and I am still sleeping. 11.03am BSTMashabane said she was involved in admitting Pistorius to prison. He was accommodated in the hospital wing that held only two people. It had two cells and a gym,she says. 11.02am BSTWe will now hear from prison nurse Charlotte Mashabane.
She was mentioned during the cross-examination yesterday of defence witness Prof Scholtz. 10.30am BST Oscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for it …That is up to the court. And we will go by the decision that the court hands down to Oscar. But he has to pay for his crime.
But I hear her crying at night. I hear her talking to Reeva. She feels just as much as I do. 10.01am BSTRoux has no more questions for Barry Steenkamp.
Nel has one more issue to address. He mentions the testimony of Dr Scholtz yesterday, who said the Steenkamp family gain forgiven Pistorius.
She feels it’s right in her heart to forgive Oscar … It still does not exonerate you for the crime that you committed.
He must still understand that he has to pay for that.
But I feel the same, or that Oscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for it …That is up to the court. And we will go by the decision that the court hands down to Oscar. But he has to pay from his crime. 9.54am BSTNel has finished. Barry Roux for the defence begins by saying he is “very,very sorry” for the loss of Reeva. He cannot bring her back.
He asks approximately the “many” efforts Pistorius made to contact the family but they declined. 9.52am BSTHe says his wife June has been depicted as a “stone-faced woman”:But I hear her crying at night. I hear her talking to Reeva. She feels just as much as I do.” 9.51am BSTSteenkamp says the only photograph he has seen of his daughter was the one shown to the court.
A lot of people will disagree with me and reflect that I’m callous … But what I would like the world to see are the wounds inflicted on to Reeva and the pain she must gain gone through, so the world can see this. 9.49am BSTTurning to the relationship between Reeva Steenkamp and Pistorius, or her father says he didn’t know approximately it,adding that she would gain told him when the “time was right”.#OscarPistorius The question re Reeva’s relationship may be designed to show it wasn’t serious (for Reeva at least)I was disgusted by that.
It’s my daughter that’s gone. It’s not the money. 9.46am BSTSteenkamp says nearly every week, Reeva would call to speak to her parents.
Christmas and birthdays are particularly difficult for the family, or he goes on.
We would sit down and one chair would be there for Reeva. 9.44am BSTNel asks him approximately the night of the murder.
I personally reflect there was an argument.
What she must gain gone through in those split seconds. She must gain been in so much fear and pain. That is what I reflect of all the time. I can see it myself. It must gain been absolutely and utterly poor. 9.42am BSTSteenkamp says he rang his brother – he says it’s “like Mr Pistorius: he can confide in his brother”. 9.40am BSTHe turns to the day of the murder. He was at work when his wife June rang him. He couldn’t understand,she was “screaming and shouting”.
He raced home and on his way he realised:She had mentioned Reeva … Driving home, I realised, or Reevas been killed. It hit me then. It’s like it happened yesterday. 9.39am BSTSteenkamp says Reeva had worked as a model but also wanted to return to the law (in which she had a degree) and notice after her parents.
He talks approximately how proud he and his wife were of their daughter:We were totally and utterly proud of her. 9.36am BSTNel asks Steenkamp approximately the wider family. He has a son from a previous relationship and his wife June has a daughter,also from an earlier partnership.
Reeva was their only child together and the only one still living with them. 9.33am BSTNel asks him approximately the murder.
From that day, it’s affected June and my family so much … Our lives gain just changed totally.
It’s very difficult to justify it … I don’t wish that on any human being. 9.31am BSTI gain changed totally, or Steenkamp tells the court.
He says he cannot mix with people any more. He sits outside late into the night by himself. 9.29am BSTSteenkamp says he thinks of Reeva Every day of my life – morning,midday, night … I reflect of her all the time.
But every day of my life is the same.
9.28am BSTSteenkamp confirms he is the father of Reeva Steenkamp.
Nel asks him approximately evidence previously given in court by Kim Martin, or his niece,with his blessing.
I took a base turn and I was advised by my doctor not to travel up to Pretoria.
I must give evidence. 9.26am BSTBarry Steenkamp is sworn in as the first witness for the state in aggravation of sentence. 9.22am BSTBarry Steenkamp has taken his plot in the witness box.
We are waiting for the judge to return. 9.10am BSTThis will be a key moment in the hearing.Barry Steenkamp has so far not spoken in court approximately the death of his daughter Reeva. He was unable to attend large stretches of the original trial because he was so unwell, and instead watched it unfold on television at home.
He is very fragile but he wants to do it. If he can, or it will be very powerful and emotional testimony. 9.02am BSTRoux says he doesn’t know if he needs to call further witnesses because he doesn’t know the state witnesses and he might need to call someone to rebut.
For now he has no further witnesses. 9.00am BSTGerrie Nel asks Marius Nel how often he saw Pistorius in prison. The pastor says he was able to see him weekly.
Gerrie Nel has no further questions. No re-examination from Roux. The moment witness of the day is finished. 8.59am BSTJudge Masipa is back in the courtroom and the hearing resumes.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel now has his chance to cross-examine defence witness and pastor Marius Nel.
Gerrie Nel: It’s kind of exclusive to address the witness as Mr Nel. 8.48am BSTDuring the break,Oscar Pistorius turns round to talk to his uncle Arnold Pistorius and aunt Lois Pistorius who are, as normal, or on the bench behind him. His brother Carl Pistorius is also in court.#OscarPistorius during break OP,still looking like he's hardly slept, shares a moment with uncle and brother pic.twitter.com/y5Bn5ZSqkv 8.45am BSTMarius Nel says he would prefer not to reveal in open court the names of the schools Pistorius worked with but can provide them to the judge.
Roux is finished with his questioning. 8.44am BSTThe pastor says he visited Pistorius “often” while he was in prison to supply spiritual care and comfort.
I experienced … a man that was broken, or who expressed his sorrow.
I ministered to Mr Pistorius,prayed with him … and supported him. 8.43am BSTMarius Nel says Pistorius is a member of his church. Schools were interested in fitness, skills and nutrition and Pistorius was “very excited and positive approximately that”.
The feedback from the schools were very positive … They would appreciate his involvement and it would gain a great effect in the school. 8.41am BSTMarius Nel is a pastor in a church in Centurion, or which runs a non-profit organisation called Bright Smiles,Bright Future focused on underprivileged children.
He says the group works with the education department to reach out to underprivileged learners in an “adopt a scholar” programme, providing blankets, and stationery and so on. There is also a feeding scheme for 5000 children each day,and a medical programme. 8.38am BSTIt looks as if we will get a third witness for the defence in mitigation of sentence.
This is Marius Nel, a pastor. (I will try to avoid confusion with the prosecutor by calling him Marius Nel, and rather than simply Nel.) 8.37am BSTRoux says he has no further questions for Gudmundsdottir.
Gerrie Nel has only one: he wants to know how old her son is now. He is 11. 8.36am BSTGudmundsdottir says her family travelled to Manchester to see Pistorius running and it was “an inspiration” for her son,who at that time was struggling with his own prostheses.
Pistorius gave her son his gold medal, saying:This is for you, and champion. 8.34am BSTPistorius told her it “would be his pleasure to help us in any way”,Gudmundsdottir says. She says Pistorius wrote to her when her son was around seven months old to say he was coming to Iceland and did they want to meet him.
We were of course very, very happy.
He made certain she was never left out.
8.32am BSTGudmundsdottir tells the court that when she was pregnant, or she found out her son would be born without legs. He was the first person to be born without legs in Iceland.
She says she Googled and came across footage of Pistorius running. She contacted him. 8.30am BSTDefence counsel Barry Roux calls his witness,Ebba Gudny Gudmundsdottir.
She is apparently a longstanding friend of Pistorius and is from Iceland. 8.28am BSTJudge Thokozile Masipa has arrived and the hearing starts.nowadays we expect to hear from the moment defence witness so far unnamed – who will testify approximately Pistorius’ work for charity. 8.19am BSTFurther imprisonment would gain a detrimental effect on him.[It] would not be psychologically or socially constructive.
Scholtz: I don’t reflect he is able to be a witness in this trial: his condition is severe.
Nel: Did Mr Pistorius indicate to you that he intentionally shot at the door knowing there was a person in the bathroom?Scholtz: Yes … 8.08am BSTToday the high court in Pretoria reconvenes for the moment day of the sentencing hearing for Oscar Pistorius.
The former athlete will receive a fresh sentence after his initial conviction for culpable homicide – for which he was given a five-year prison term – was overturned by South Africa’s supreme court, which found him guilty of murder.
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Source: theguardian.com