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Increased security for Oscar Pistorius sentencing
There was increased security at the High Court in Pretoria on Monday morning ahead of the sentencing procedures in the case against Oscar Pistorius, convicted of culpable homicide.
South African Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius leaving the the High Court in Pretoria on September 12, 2014. South Africa’s state prosecutors said they were “disappointed” by Oscar Pistorius’s acquittal on murder charges, but will wait before deciding whether to appeal the decision. AFP PHOTO/MUJAHID SAFODIEN
Security guards wheeled out a bag scanner and a walk-through metal detector to the entrance of the court GD. This was the first time the devices were placed at the court room.
Local and international media had also gathered at the court.
The entrance of the court was lined with cameras as the media waited for the paralympic athlete to arrive.
Various media houses were set up on the other side of Madiba street.
The Tshwane Metro police partially cordoned off the road.
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide on September 12 for the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.
Judge Thokozile Masipa found him not guilty of murdering Steenkamp, 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.
Masipa said that there was no basis for the court to make the inference that Pistorius wanted to kill Steenkamp.
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has a police guard as he makes his way through a mass of media upon leaving court following judgement in his murder trial, Pretoria, South Africa, 12 September 2014. Pistorius was acquitted of the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 but found guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter). He was granted bail until sentencing in October EPA/KIM LUDBROOK
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.
It was not known who the State and defence would call as witnesses on Monday.
– Sapa
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