Reeva Steenkamp's father breaks down in court as he pleads for Oscar Pistorius to be jailed for her murder

Reeva Steenkamp's heartbroken father today urged a judge to show the world pictures of his daughter's gunshot wounds so everyone could see the pain Oscar Pistorius had inflicted on her.

In dramatic testimony, Barry Steenkamp, 73, said the Paralympian 'must pay' for the model's murder as he addressed the disgraced athlete directly for the first time.

Mr Steenkamp described how he had repeatedly self-harmed and driven needles into his own body since his daughter's death to 'try and feel the same pain that she went through' on the night she was shot dead by Pistorius three years ago.

He told the court he wanted the world to see a picture of Reeva's dead body so 'the world can see the wounds that were inflicted on Reeva and the pain she must have gone through.'

The retired racehorse trainer broke down repeatedly in the witness box as he laid bare the devastating impact his only daughter's death had had on his life.

'I think of her every day of my life, morning, noon and night, in the early hours of the morning, I think of her all the time,' he told a sentencing hearing that will decide what punishment Pistorius will face for killing the 29-year-old.

He described his wife June's devastation, adding that 'people say that June is "stone-faced" but I know that June grieves like I do all the time.

'She is probably a bit stronger, I hear her crying at night time and talking to Reeva and of course she feels just as much as I do.'

Pistorius's lawyer Barry Roux told the court: 'We understand, we are really very very sorry, whatever we do can't bring her back and whatever I say can't bring her back.'

During the lunch adjournment, Pistorius was seen examining paperwork with his lawyers prompting speculation that he had prepared a statement to be read to the open court.

Pistorius locked eyes with his victim's father for the first time across court as the older man told him that although he had spurned his requests to meet, he would be prepared to hear directly from him one day.

And although he and his wife, June, 69, had forgiven the killer, they were convinced he should lose his freedom.

A clutch of female supporters, who had queued for hours for a seat in the court's public gallery, gasped audibly and began to sob and pray as Mr Steenkamp told Judge Thokozile Masipa that he wanted to see his daughter's killer back behind bars.

'Not the maximum sentence,' he told her. 'But Oscar has to pay for what he did.'

Answering questions from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Mr Steenkamp wept as he re-lived the terrible morning he heard his daughter had died.

'I got a phone call from June and I couldn't really understand what she was so upset about, screaming and shouting.

'She said "come home immediately, just come home".

'On my way home, I tried to fathom what she had tried to tell me... that's when I started to panic,' he said, his voice barely audible between sobs.

'The more I drove the more I realised that Reeva had been killed.'

The packed court was hushed for the dramatic evidence.

Members of Pistorius's family, who have turned out in force for the crucial hearing, watched him with concern as he appeared to weep in the dock.


Mr Steenkamp described how he speaks to Reeva, a law graduate, constantly and still finds the pain of losing her unbearable.

'Our lives have changed completely. I talk to her every day,' he said.

'You know, people say be patient, two years three years and you start feeling a bit better about the whole thing, but every day of my life is the same.

'Ever since Reeva's death, I wouldn't say I've become a recluse but I can't really mix with people any more.

'And I sit on that veranda at two o'clock in the morning which has become a habit and I smoke my cigarettes.

'It is very difficult to explain when you talk about the incident. I don't wish that on any human being.

'It devastated us. I ended up having a stroke and so many things since then and I just don't wish that on anyone in this whole world,' he said, his body shaking with emotion and grief.