June and Barry Steenkamp, parents of Reeva Steenkamp, attend the sentencing hearing of paralympian Oscar Pistorius at the high court in Pretoria, Thursday, 16 October 2014. Picture: Alon Skuy/Times Media Group/Pool
“I have absolute admiration for the parents of the deceased who have suffered the most but remained neutral… There is no vengeance,” Barry Roux, SC for Pistorius said during his closing arguments in sentencing.
“I can only admire them.”
He referred the court to a statement released by the Steenkamps earlier this week where they said that were advised by their legal team to remain neutral.
Steenkamp’s parents Barry and June sat in the front row of the public gallery and looked at Roux as he spoke.
Barry Steenkamp occasionally glanced over at Pistorius who sat head down.
On September 12, Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide for the Valentines Day 2013, shooting of Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse. The court found him not guilty of murdering Steenkamp.
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.
Pistorius was found guilty of firing a pistol under a table at Tasha’s restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013. He was found not guilty of shooting through the open sunroof of a car in Modderfontein on September 30, 2012, and of illegal possession of ammunition.
– Sapa
Follow @CitiReporter on twitter for live updates from inside and outside court or click here for the live twitter feed.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
