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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jun/14/oscar-pistorius-day-two-sentencing-hearing-reeva-steenkamp
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| Oscar Pistorius sentencing: Barry Steenkamp says 'world should see wounds inflicted on Reeva' – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.01am BST | |
| 10:01 | |
| Steenkamp: Pistorius 'has to pay for what he did' | |
| Roux has no more questions for Barry Steenkamp. | |
| Nel has one more issue to address. He mentions the testimony of Dr Scholtz yesterday, who said the Steenkamp family have forgiven Pistorius. | |
| Steenkamp says his wife June is a Christian | |
| She feels it’s right in her heart to forgive Oscar … It still does not exonerate you for the crime that you committed. | |
| He must still understand that he has to pay for that. | |
| June has forgiven him so that she can carry on with her life. | |
| He says it has been difficult for him to forgive. | |
| But I feel the same, that Oscar has to pay for what he did. He has to pay for it … | |
| That is up to the court. And we will go by the decision that the court hands down to Oscar. But he has to pay from his crime. | |
| I don’t want to say that he has to go to the maximum … But he has to pay for it. | |
| 9.54am BST | |
| 09:54 | |
| Nel has finished. Barry Roux for the defence begins by saying he is “very, very sorry” for the loss of Reeva. He cannot bring her back. | |
| He asks about the “many” efforts Pistorius made to contact the family but they declined. | |
| If you were in my position, you might understand, Steenkamp tells him. | |
| In tears, he adds that in future, he would like to talk to Pistorius. | |
| Roux tells him that can happen when he is ready. | |
| 9.52am BST | |
| 09:52 | |
| He says his wife June has been depicted as a “stone-faced woman”: | |
| But I hear her crying at night. I hear her talking to Reeva. She feels just as much as I do.” | |
| 9.51am BST | |
| 09:51 | |
| Steenkamp says the only photograph he has seen of his daughter was the one shown to the court. | |
| A lot of people will disagree with me and think that I’m callous … But what I would like the world to see are the wounds inflicted on to Reeva and the pain she must have gone through, so the world can see this. | |
| 9.49am BST | |
| 09:49 | |
| Turning to the relationship between Reeva Steenkamp and Pistorius, her father says he didn’t know about it, adding that she would have told him when the “time was right”. | |
| #OscarPistorius The question re Reeva’s relationship may be designed to show it wasn’t serious (for Reeva at least) | |
| He says he and his wife have not had any direct contact with Pistorius. | |
| On the R6,500 per month paid by Pistorius to the Steenkamps, he says that was arranged by legal teams. | |
| We were in dire financial straits, he says. | |
| The payments were supposed to be private and confidential but were brought up in court by the defence: | |
| I was disgusted by that. | |
| The family declined further offers of money, he says. | |
| It’s my daughter that’s gone. It’s not the money. | |
| 9.46am BST | |
| 09:46 | |
| Steenkamp says almost every week, Reeva would call to speak to her parents. | |
| Christmas and birthdays are particularly difficult for the family, he goes on. | |
| We would sit down and one chair would be there for Reeva. | |
| 9.44am BST | |
| 09:44 | |
| Nel asks him about the night of the murder. | |
| I personally think there was an argument. | |
| Nel gently stops him. He asks about Reeva: | |
| What she must have gone through in those split seconds. She must have been in so much fear and pain. That is what I think of all the time. I can see it myself. It must have been absolutely and utterly awful. | |
| He says he used to jab the needles he uses for his diabetes into his stomach and his arms to see if he could feel the pain Reeva felt: “But no.” | |
| 9.42am BST | |
| 09:42 | |
| Steenkamp says he rang his brother – he says it’s “like Mr Pistorius: he can confide in his brother”. | |
| 9.40am BST | |
| 09:40 | |
| He turns to the day of the murder. He was at work when his wife June rang him. He couldn’t understand, she was “screaming and shouting”. | |
| He raced home and on his way he realised: | |
| She had mentioned Reeva … Driving home, I realised, Reeva’s been killed. It hit me then. It’s like it happened yesterday. | |
| 9.39am BST | |
| 09:39 | |
| Steenkamp says Reeva had worked as a model but also wanted to return to the law (in which she had a degree) and look after her parents. | |
| He talks about how proud he and his wife were of their daughter: | |
| We were completely and utterly proud of her. | |
| 9.36am BST | |
| 09:36 | |
| Nel asks Steenkamp about the wider family. He has a son from a previous relationship and his wife June has a daughter, also from an earlier partnership. | |
| Reeva was their only child together and the only one still living with them. | |
| He says in 2013 they were in financial difficulty. | |
| When Reeva died, he says, the landlady found out from media reports that he was virtually bankrupt. | |
| Within two weeks of the murder, the family were given notice, he says. They had to leave their home. | |
| 9.33am BST | |
| 09:33 | |
| Nel asks him about the murder. | |
| From that day, it’s affected June and my family so much … Our lives have just changed completely. | |
| It’s very difficult to explain it … I don’t wish that on any human being. | |
| Finding out what happened, it devastated us. I ended up having a stroke. | |
| I don’t wish that on anybody in the whole world. | |
| He says he has had heart problems since his daughter was killed. | |
| 9.31am BST | |
| 09:31 | |
| I have changed completely, Steenkamp tells the court. | |
| He says he cannot mix with people any more. He sits outside late into the night by himself. | |
| He says he gets messages from “people who support us” – perhaps a couple of hundred every day. | |
| 9.29am BST | 9.29am BST |
| 09:29 | 09:29 |
| Steenkamp says he thinks of Reeva | Steenkamp says he thinks of Reeva |
| Every day of my life – morning, noon, night … I think of her all the time. | Every day of my life – morning, noon, night … I think of her all the time. |
| He is in tears. Nel tells him he can stop at any time. | He is in tears. Nel tells him he can stop at any time. |
| Steenkamp says the family has photos of Reeva “all over our house”. He talks to her every day. | Steenkamp says the family has photos of Reeva “all over our house”. He talks to her every day. |
| He says people told him after two or three years he would start to feel a little better: | He says people told him after two or three years he would start to feel a little better: |
| But every day of my life is the same. | But every day of my life is the same. |
| 9.28am BST | 9.28am BST |
| 09:28 | 09:28 |
| Steenkamp confirms he is the father of Reeva Steenkamp. | Steenkamp confirms he is the father of Reeva Steenkamp. |
| Nel asks him about evidence previously given in court by Kim Martin, his niece, with his blessing. | Nel asks him about evidence previously given in court by Kim Martin, his niece, with his blessing. |
| I couldn’t give evidence at the time, Steenkamp says: | I couldn’t give evidence at the time, Steenkamp says: |
| I took a bad turn and I was advised by my doctor not to travel up to Pretoria. | I took a bad turn and I was advised by my doctor not to travel up to Pretoria. |
| Now, he says: | Now, he says: |
| I must give evidence. | I must give evidence. |