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Oscar arrives for third day of sentencing

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Culpable homicide-convicted paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrived at the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday for the third day of his sentencing proceedings.

He walked briskly to the entrance of the court, followed by four female police officers. He carried a black folder.

Camera people and two photographers took pictures and filmed him as he entered the court room.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is expected to continue the cross-examination of social worker Annette Vergeer on Wednesday.

Vergeer, who is also a probation officer, began presenting her report on Pistorius on Tuesday.

In the report, which the defence paid her to compile, she recommended that Pistorius — who has been convicted of culpable homicide for the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp – be sentenced to three years of correctional supervision and community service.

During cross-examination, Vergeer said she did not believe that the double amputee would be safe or provided with the right facilities for his disability in prison.

“They cannot eliminate his vulnerability and they cannot secure his safety,” she told the court.

On September 12, Masipa found the paralympian not guilty of murdering Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse on Valentine’s Day last year, but convicted him of culpable homicide.

Pistorius has maintained throughout that he shot Steenkamp through the locked door of the toilet, thinking she was an intruder about to emerge and attack him.

Judge Thokozile Masipa also found Pistorius guilty of discharging a firearm in public during an incident at a Johannesburg restaurant. SAPA


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