Oscar Pistorius, feeling vulnerable and anxious, snapped like an abused woman the night he killed Reeva Steenkamp, his lawyer has said in closing arguments at the double amputee sprinter's murder trial. 
 
 Barry Roux, the lead defence lawyer, told the court that Pistorius suffers from the "slow burn" of a lifetime of insecurity due to his disability, comparing his anxiety to that of a woman who snaps and kills her partner after years of abuse. 
 
 Throughout the trial, Mr Roux has sought to portray Pistorius as a vulnerable man obsessed with safety in a country with a high crime rate. The defence argues that he accidentally shot four times through a lavatory door because he thought there was an intruder, heard a noise and was "startled". 
 
 "You have the effect of the slow burn of insecurities over many years. You're an athlete. You're trained to react to a sound, and he stands there now with his finger ready to fire, and then," Mr Roux said, before banging the wooden lectern in front of him to make a startling sound. 
 
 Mr Roux, responding to state prosecutor Gerrie Nel's closing argument Thursday, admitted that Pistorius had been argumentative as a witness. 
 
 In an about-turn, he also said the 27-year-old athlete was guilty of negligence for discharging a gun in a crowded Johannesburg restaurant. 
 
 Pistorius had pleaded not guilty to the charge. 
 
 But, Mr Roux maintained, Pistorius did not intentionally kill Reeva Steenkamp when he shot her dead last Valentine's Day. 
 
 Judge Thokozile Masipa, who has previously given long sentences to men found guilty of killing their partners, asked Mr Roux what he meant by the "slow burn" and abused woman comparison, asking: "How does it apply to the accused in this case?" 
 
 "That constant reminder, I do not have legs, I can not run away, I am not the same, that's with him, he can't pretend, he can't pretend that it's fine," Mr Roux replied. 
 
 "The effect of that over time, it filled the cup to the brim," said Roux, who said that when Pistorius is startled, a fight response takes over. "That fight one is exaggerated because over time it develops, because there is no flight." 
 
 Closing arguments in the trial, which began March 3, are slated to wrap up today. Judge Masipa is expected to announce a date for a verdict in the case. ||||| PRETORIA (Reuters) - Oscar Pistorius shuffled through a Pretoria court without his prosthetic legs on Wednesday to show how vulnerable he is as the Paralympian seeks to avoid prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. 
 
 Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius walks across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs during the third day of the resentencing hearing for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at Pretoria High Court, South Africa June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko 
 
 The 29-year-old faces a minimum 15-year jail term for the Valentine’s Day killing in 2013 in a case that has attracted worldwide interest and divided South Africa. He will be sentenced on July 6. 
 
 Pistorius has always said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home, killing her almost instantly. 
 
 During his closing arguments, defense lawyer Barry Roux asked the gold medalist, known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, to walk on his stumps to show the difficulty he faced dealing with the threat of an intruder. 
 
 The lower part of his legs were amputated when he was a baby. 
 
 His body shaking with emotion, Pistorius removed his prosthetics and stood on his stumps for about five minutes in front of the court television camera, wiping away tears with a tissue. 
 
 “The accused was vulnerable because of his disability,” Roux said. “His failure to conduct a rational thought process does not negate his vulnerability.” 
 
 The defense says Pistorius did not deliberately kill model and law graduate Steenkamp and was “a broken man”, calling for a non-custodial sentence that includes community service. 
 
 A state prosecutor argued that Pistorius - who did not take the stand himself - had shown no remorse or told the court why he fired the shots, and asked the court jail the athlete for the prescribed minimum sentence of 15-years. 
 
 The athlete originally received a five-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction, that was upgraded to murder on appeal. The original trial judge, Thokozile Masipa, was presiding at the hearings at the Pretoria High Court. 
 
 FIERCE DEBATE 
 
 Roux asked the judge to consider that his client was vulnerable because of his disability and that the prescribed 15-year minimum sentence should give the court “unease”. 
 
 “The fact is that a disabled person in jail has a more difficult time,” Roux said. 
 
 The case has prompted a fierce debate in a country beset by high levels of violent crime against women and still dealing with the legacy of decades of apartheid race-based rule. 
 
 Some rights groups have said Pistorius, a wealthy white man, has received preferential treatment. 
 
 Pistorius reached the pinnacle of his fame in London 2012 when he became the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, reaching the 400 meters semi-finals, before taking two golds in the Paralympics. 
 
 Roux said the publicity surrounding the case led to it being portrayed as an incident of gender-based violence, despite the facts showing it was not. Pistorius had now “become the face of gender violence”, he said. 
 
 Shortly after Roux asked Pistorius to walk without his prosthetics, prosecutor Gerrie Nel requested that the judge allow photos to be shown of Steenkamp’s bloodied head and torso. 
 
 Masipa ruled that the photos be made available to the public upon request. She said the photos had been banned to protect the Steenkamp family, who had now agreed to lifting the ban. 
 
 The victim’s father Barry Steenkamp said on Tuesday that Pistorius must pay for his crime. 
 
 Prosecutor Nel said Pistorius had failed to show remorse. 
 
 “There’s a chasm between regret and remorse,” Nel said. “Real remorse would have been the accused taking the court into his confidence, telling the court why I fired that shot, why I did what I did. We don’t have that.” 
 
 Slideshow (9 Images) 
 
 Johannesburg-based criminal law attorney Zola Majavu said the judge could only deviate from handing out the minimum sentence if Pistorius had demonstrated exceptional circumstances to warrant such a deviation. 
 
 He said Pistorius’ decision not to speak in court could prove central: “It was a perfect opportunity to show the court that he does take responsibility for his actions.” 
 
 Pistorius has given an interview to British television, which will be aired next week.
– Oscar Pistorius will know next month whether he's going to prison for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Closing arguments finished today, and Judge Thokozile Masipa said she would announce her verdict on Sept. 11, the AP reports. After prosecutor Gerrie Nel ripped into the defense's case yesterday, Pistorius' lawyer took to the floor today to describe the double-amputee athlete as vulnerable and insecure because of his lifelong disability. Attorney Barry Roux went so far as to compare him to a wife who kills her partner after years of abuse, reports the Telegraph. The "slow burn of insecurities," paired with his athletic training, caused him to snap when he felt his life was in danger, said Roux. Prosecutors are pushing for 25 years to life for premeditated murder, though the judge has a range of lesser penalties at her disposal, along with exoneration. Roux also said that Pistorius' behavior following the shooting—including calling for help—shows that it was a tragic mistake, not a murder. As for his poor memory on the stand? Roux linked it to Pistorius' "severe depression." And though the prosecution argued Steenkamp's stomach contents indicated the couple stayed up arguing after Pistorius said they went to bed, Roux said the judge "cannot exclude" the possibility that Steenkamp woke up for a late-night snack. He also said that a security guard who passed Pistorius' house and heard no argument when the prosecution said it took place is "fatal to the state's case." Roux did, however, admit Pistorius is guilty of a gun charge related to an incident at a Johannesburg restaurant.