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 The 27-year-old Paralympic and Olympic athlete, whose lower legs
were amputated as a baby, was convicted of culpable homicide last
month for shooting dead his girlfriend, law graduate and model Reeva
Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine's Day 2013.
Probation officer Annette Vergeer, who was paid by the defense to
produce her report, said South African prisons were not conducive to
the disabled and Pistorius would be vulnerable to violence and
highly stressful situations.
"It will not assist him but break him as a person. The death of the
deceased and the period since have been a far bigger punishment than
incarceration," Vergeer told the court.
"His disability and state of mind would cause his detention to be an
excessive punishment with no benefits to him, society and the
deceased's family," she said.
Pistorius, dressed in a dark suit and tie, sat impassively in the
packed courtroom as one of the most closely watched murder trials in
history edged towards its conclusion.
The athlete has broken down in tears and wretched into a bucket
during the on-off, six-month trial. His psychologist told the court
on Monday he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and
sometimes spent sessions weeping.
On the first day of the hearing on Monday, a social worker
recommended Pistorius be sentenced to partial house arrest and
community service, which state prosecutor Gerrie Nel described as
"shockingly inappropriate".
Nel will call at least two witnesses as the state pushes for a
lengthy prison term. Sentencing is expected to conclude by the end
of the week.
Culpable homicide, South Africa's equivalent of manslaughter, can be
punished by anything from 15 years in jail to a suspended sentence
or community service.
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A non-custodial sentence would be likely to cause public anger,
fuelling a perception among black South Africans that, 20 years
after the end of apartheid, wealthy whites can still secure
preferential justice.
Judge Thokozile Masipa cleared Pistorius of murder, saying
prosecutors had failed to prove his intent to kill when he fired
four 9mm rounds through a toilet door in what he said was the
mistaken belief that an intruder was hiding behind it.
Pistorius, known as the 'Blade Runner' because of the carbon-fiber
prosthetics he uses on track, said the shooting in his upmarket
Pretoria home was a tragic mistake as he thought Steenkamp was
asleep in bed, not in the small toilet cubicle.
The decision by 66-year-old Masipa, only the second black woman to
rise to South Africa's bench, to clear Pistorius of murder drew
criticism from many legal experts and the public in a country
infamous for violence, particularly against women.
The state could decide to appeal the culpable homicide verdict in
pursuit of a murder conviction. An appeal cannot be launched until
sentencing has been concluded.
(Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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