Oscar Pistorius has demonstrated to the court how he walks without his prosthetic legs – in a bid to show how vulnerable he would be to an intruder.
The Paralympian, who killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by shooting through a locked bathroom door, was on his stumps when he shot his partner in 2013 – a fact his defence have focused on heavily.
They have made a great deal of the Paralympian’s vulnerability, and asked Pistorius to walk on his stumps to demonstrate just how disabled he is, and why he may have been even more fearful of an intruder in his home.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux said: “The accused was vulnerable because of his disability.”
“His failure to conduct a rational thought process does not negate his vulnerability.”
Barry Steenkamp gave an emotional address to the court this week
Pistorius was videoed limping across the court room, using the benches to steady himself.
He appeared openly emotional as he wiped tears away from his eyes and his body shook.
The defence are fighting for lenient sentence, after the athlete’s conviction was uplifted to murder last year. The minimum sentence for this crime in South Africa is 15 years.
Meanwhile Reeva Steenkamp’s father took to the stand this week to speak of his family’s continuing heartbreak after the loss of the 30-year-old.
Through tears, Barry Steenkamp told the court how he hears his wife crying at night, talking to their dead daughter.
Oscar and Reeva had only been dating for a few months before she was killed
Although the devastated father said he has forgiven Pistorius, he added “Oscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for it.”
Steenkamp also asked the court to release photos of his daughter’s horrific injuries, to show the “pain she must have gone through” before she died.
Oscar will be sentenced in July.
