PRETORIA -Oscar Pistorius is a "broken" man, a defence witness has said at the South African athlete's sentencing hearing.

Psychologist Jonathan Scholtz said he was suffering from "major depression".

Pistorius was convicted at the end of last year of the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
He faces a jail term of 15 years but his sentence may be reduced due to  time already spent in prison and mitigating factors.

The hearing is expected to last all week with a sentence by Friday.
Pistorius, 29, killed Ms Steenkamp in February 2013 after firing four times through a locked toilet door.
The athlete has always maintained he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

He was initially jailed for manslaughter in 2014 and was released into house arrest after a year, but his conviction was changed to murder after
the prosecution appealed.

Psychologist Jonathan Scholtz said Pistorius should do community service instead of serving more time in prison

"Since the offence he has developed a serious psychiatric condition which has become worse over the past two years," he told the court.

He added that Pistorius was traumatised by the sound of a gun, even in a film, and never wanted to go near a firearm again. As a consequence he had
sold all his weapons.

Dr Scholtz said that instead of a custodial sentence, Pistorius should do community service so that he could help others.

He revealed that Pistorius had had a job offer as a project manager in an early childhood development programme run by his uncle's company.
During the cross-examination, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel suggested that Pistorius had not shown true remorse but was rather feeling sorry for
himself, the News24 website reports.
When changing the conviction to murder from manslaughter South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court had not correctly
applied the rule of dolus eventualis - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

The panel of judges said that it was irrelevant who he had thought was behind the door.
Reeva Steenkamp's father, Barry, is watching events in court and is expected to testify for the prosecution
Original trial judge Thokozile Masipa will hear arguments from both prosecution and defence this week.

Reeva Steenkamp's father, Barry, who has been absent throughout the case due to poor health, is in court and may testify later this week.

Experts say a custodial sentence seems almost unavoidable but factors such as his mental fragility, disability and good behaviour may lead to a
reduced jail term.

He was released from prison last October after almost a year in jail and allowed to serve out the remainder of his initial sentence under house
arrest on his uncle's property in Pretoria.
The South African made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in London in 2012.

He competed in the 400m, wearing carbon-fibre blades to run against able-bodied athletes.
- BBC