Oscar back in court for sentencing

Oscar Pistorius is seen in the North Gauteng High Court during his murder trial. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Oscar Pistorius is seen in the North Gauteng High Court during his murder trial. File picture: Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Oct 13, 2014

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Johannesburg - Sentencing procedures in the case against Oscar Pistorius start in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.

On September 12, Judge Thokozile Masipa found the athlete not guilty of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria townhouse on Valentine's Day last year, but convicted him of culpable homicide.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the locked door of the toilet, apparently thinking she was an intruder about to emerge and attack him. She was hit in the hip, arm and head.

“There is no basis for this court to make the inference that the accused wanted to kill the deceased,” Masipa found.

She said evidence showed that Pistorius acted negligently when he fired into the toilet door knowing there was someone behind it.

With regard to firearms-related charges, Masipa found Pistorius guilty of firing a Glock pistol belonging to his friend Darren Fresco under a table at Tasha's restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013.

However, she found him not guilty of shooting through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with Fresco and ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor in Modderfontein on September 30, 2012.

She also found him not guilty on a count of illegal possession of ammunition. - Sapa

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