The two faces, and futures, of Oscar

Crime and Punishment Starkly different views of Oscar Pistorius were presented in court this week. Which one will Judge Thokozile Masipa accept when she sentences him after finding him guilty of culpable homicide?

THE DEFENCE:

OSCAR HAS SUFFERED

"IT'S easy to say that when you kill someone you must live with the consequences. Of course you must, but that's not what has happened in this case. The denigration, humiliation, ridicule, blame and false allegations have been ongoing worldwide," said defence advocate Barry Roux.

Reeva Steenkamp was not the only victim, Roux argued. Pistorius himself is a victim because he has lost everything: his career, his money, his image and his girlfriend.

That is why Pistorius should be sentenced to three years of correctional supervision, do community work and be declared unfit to possess a firearm.

He has paid for his crime already because it destroyed a lucrative career and his money has run dry, Roux said. B efore the tragic events of February 14 last year, as Roux put it, his client "was on the rise".

"He was an idol ... Now, he's not earned a penny. He's broke. He has nothing left."

Roux said Pistorius's remorse - and the fact he has been supporting Steenkamp's parents financially - show he is genuinely sorry.

Roux wants the court to adopt the principle of ubuntu and restorative justice. He used the example of a man stealing a goat from another man: in this spirit he should return the goat or, if he cannot, help the victim and assist the community in some other way.

In any case, said Roux, the punishment of his client commenced immediately after the incident and the trauma he has suffered since is far greater than any criminal punishment.

He said the Blade Runner, as Pistorius is known for the carbon fibre prosthetics he raced on, had already punished himself in the past 18 months more than the judge would ever be able to with a custodial sentence.

Pistorius, he said, had lost the woman he loved.

"I cannot even begin to understand the pain. There's grief for the loss but something far worse, there's that excruciating pain that it's you that caused the loss. There was an accused and a victim, and the accused became a victim."

He said the athlete had "lost everything" since Steenkamp's death.

"He was on the rise, that's very clear. He was like an icon in the eyes of South Africans. He was going to make lots of money."

Roux said Pistorius had been vilified in untrue media reports to the effect that he had crushed the model's skull with a cricket bat, was high on drink and steroids and took acting lessons to appear more remorseful in court.

"The denigration, the humiliation, the ridicule, the blame, the false allegations - ongoing, worldwide - that's what he was subjected to," he said.

"Never, ever, ever in the history of our law, or any other country, have I seen such unfairness."

Pistorius had become a "down and out", he said. "He was painted as a cold-blooded killer. He lost all his sponsorship, he lost all his money. He is broke and broken. There's nothing left of this man.

"Is this a person you must remove from society? ... We say no."

If Pistorius were jailed, the court heard, he would serve his sentence in a single cell of Pretoria Central's hospital wing.

But even there, Roux said, he would be exposed to South African prisons' high levels of tuberculosis and Aids, and would struggle to walk around on the hard concrete floors.

He cited a psychological report that said Pistorius was a suicide risk if he did not receive consistent medical treatment.

"Putting him with people suffering from ailments, diseases, for how long? What must he do there?" he said. "It can never be a suitable punishment."

He cited cases where people convicted of culpable homicide - including a man who shot and killed his own daughter, thinking she was an intruder - escaped prison.

"When someone has done something wrong that's serious, the first inclination is that he must go to jail," he said.

"But be careful you don't become trapped in that mind-set. Society has moved on.

"You must sit back and consider if there's another way."

THE STATE:

HE DESERVES TIME IN JAIL

STATE prosecutor Gerrie Nel insisted jail was the only option given the violent nature of Steenkamp's death and the excessive and inappropriate use of force by Pistorius, who claimed he thought she was an intruder.

He said a sentence that involved house arrest for such a crime was "shockingly disproportionate".

"She died a horrific death. She had nowhere to go, she was in a small cubicle," he said. "Three bullets ripped through her body. It must have been horrific.

"If there was one shot fired, we'd be prepared to understand it, but we have four shots fired by someone who was competent with a firearm."

Nel attacked Pistorius's "shameless" use of his disability as a mitigating factor in his sentence when he had fought hard in the past to compete with able-bodied athletes.

He mocked Roux's suggestion that his client should be pitied for his treatment by the media. "I'm a victim, feel sorry for me, the media victimised me," he mimicked.

"When I wanted the media to capture my brilliant athletic performance, I loved them; when the media write about my trial, it's unfair."

He also attacked the Blade Runner's references to the money he might have made and subsequently lost, pointing out that he was still able to live in his uncle's "luxurious" home. "That cannot be an argument," he said.

The prosecutor attacked Pistorius for sending cash to Steenkamp's parents' door, and described his sadness and disappointment that they had accepted it.

"It showed their desperation," he said. "How much grief, how much pain, how much trauma must a parent suffer to get to that stage?"

Nel said that in weighing her sentence, the judge should pay close attention to the words of Kim Martin, Steenkamp's cousin, who not only represented the family but was the "voice of society".

"We've had a trial where the screams of a woman, the noise of gunfire and the sound of breaking down the door has dominated," he said.

"But the softly spoken words of Kim Martin, making a plea for the accused to pay for what he has done, trounces every other noise referred to and deserves attention."

He told the court that sentencing was the part of the trial "when society gets involved. The court has to take us and what we want into account."

Nel placed special emphasis on Steenkamp, the "real" victim of this tragedy.

"She did nothing to contribute towards her death. She had nowhere to go, she was in a small cubicle ... bullets ripped through her bones," Nel said.

There were gasps from the Pistorius family when Nel suggested Pistorius used his disability as a get-out-of-jail card.

Nel said: "[It is] disturbing that a man who wanted to compete with able-bodied athletes now wants to play disabled ...

"To say I won't get three meals on a plate with a knife and fork if I go to prison," said Nel, "is not an argument." - Additional reporting by The Daily Telegraph, London

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