Oscar Pistorius sentencing: Watch live video as hearing continues

Tuesday sees the former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius back in court for the second day of his sentencing hearing, following the death of his former girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year.

On February 14 2013, Pistorius shot 29-year-old Steenkamp three times through the bathroom door of the couple’s home in Johannesburg.

Pistorius denied that he was guilty of murder throughout his trial, and told the court that he had shot Steenkamp in the belief that she was an intruder

The athlete was cleared of murder last month by Judge Thokozile Masipa and was instead handed the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Judge Masipa agreed that Pistorius had acted “negligently” but concluded this had been carried out in the "belief that there was an intruder".

Live video feed courtesy of enca.com/oscartrial

The crime of culpable homicide can carry with it a sentence of 15 years behind bars; however, Judge Masipa could decide to suspend the sentence or merely impose a fine.

At sentencing yesterday, Pistorius’ defence team argued that despite the tragic event Pistorius “should not be destroyed” with their witness trauma counsellor Lore Hartzenberg said that Oscar Pistorius was already “broken” as a result of Steenkamp’s death.

Another one of their witnesses, state probation officer Joel Maringa, caused controversy when he suggested that Pistorius should not be put in prison but, instead, receive a sentence of three years house arrest and carry out a period of community service.

Maringa said that Pistorius would “benefit from correctional supervision" and that it would give him the "opportunity to restructure and modify his behaviour".

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel suggested that this opinion was “shockingly inappropriate” and said if Maringa was listened to it would amount to “no sentence” at all.

Pistorius’ defence are keen to ensure that Pistorius avoids a prison term, while the state prosecution team will be hoping for the maximum 15 years prison term.

The sentencing hearing is expected to last several days.