Moment of truth arrives for Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius made his name by thrilling crowds with his unique sprinting style, but today the eyes of the world will fall on the athlete for very different reasons.

More than 18 months after he shot dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home on Valentine’s Day 2013, the sportsman known as the Blade Runner will finally learn his fate as a judge delivers her verdict in one of the most closely-followed trials of recent times.

The courtroom in Pretoria will convene for the final time to see the culmination of a case that heard from scores of witnesses and captivated a global audience with dramatic and heartbreaking scenes.

In deciding her verdict, Judge Thokozile Masipa will have to weigh Pistorius’s claim that he shot Ms Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder and the prosecution’s allegation that the runner intentionally murdered her after a row.

She will determine the defendant’s fate alone as South Africa does not have trial by jury

If found guilty of premeditated murder, the 27-year-old double amputee faces 25 years to life in prison, while he could be convicted of a lesser murder charge or negligent killing. He is also charged with three firearms counts.

In one night Pistorius was transformed from a global sporting icon to murder suspect. A little more than six months before the shooting, he made history at London 2012 by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete in the Olympic Games. Then in the early hours of February 14, 2013, the athlete — who had his lower legs amputated as a baby — fired his 9mm pistol through a closed toilet door at his home in Pretoria. Ms Steenkamp, 29, suffered fatal injuries after she was hit in the head, arm and hip.

It was a tragic end to a budding romance that saw the pair labelled the Posh and Becks of South Africa after they started dating three months earlier.