'SHOW THE WORLD HER WOUNDS'

Father Barry told judge how he has driven pins into his body to 'try and feel the same pain'

REEVA Steenkamp’s heartbroken father today told Oscar Pistorius that he ‘must pay’ for his daughter’s murder and return to jail as he addressed the disgraced athlete directly for the first time.

In dramatic testimony, Barry Steenkamp, 73, described how he had repeatedly self-harmed and driven needles into his own body since her daughter’s death to ‘try and feel the same pain that she went through’ on the night she was shot dead by Pistorius, three years ago.

The shamed sprinter is currently in the High Court in Pretoria to decide his jail sentence for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The Blade Runner faces at least 15 years behind bars for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

The retired racehorse trainer broke down repeatedly in the witness box as he laid bare the devastating impact his only daughter’s death had had on his life.

“I think of her every day of my life, morning, noon and night, in the early hours of the morning, I think of her all the time,” he told a sentencing hearing that will decide what punishment Pistorius will face for killing Reeva, 29.

Mr Steenkamp told the Judge that he wanted the world to see a picture of Reeva’s dead body so that "the world can see the wounds that were inflicted on Reeva and the pain she must have gone through."

Pistorius locked eyes with his victim’s father for the first time across court, as the older man told him that although he had spurned his requests to meet, he would be prepared to hear directly from him one day. And although he and his wife, June, 69, had forgiven the killer, they were convinced he should to lose his freedom.

Pistorius, who was seen sobbing in court earlier today, is coping with the stress of the trial through the support of his family.

Brother Carl shared a cute family picture on Twitter yesterday with the caption: "Emotionally spent after a day in court, Oscar Pistorius falls asleep with his godson, niece and nephew."

A clutch of female supporters, who had queued for hours for a seat in the court’s public gallery, gasped audibly and began to sob and pray as Mr Steenkamp told Judge Thokozile Masipa that he wanted to see his daughter’s killer back behind bars.

“Not the maximum sentence,” he told her, “but Oscar has to pay for what he did.”

Steenkamp revealed that he and his wife did not know about Reeva’s relationship with the sprinter until before her death.

Answering questions from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Mr Steenkamp wept as he re-lived the terrible morning he heard his daughter had died.

“I got a phone call from June and I couldn’t really understand what she was so upset about, screaming and shouting. She said 'come home immediately, just come home.’ On my way home, I tried to fathom what she had tried to tell me….that’s when I started to panic,” he said, his voice barely audible between sobs, “the more I drove the more I realised that Reeva had been killed.”

The packed court was hushed for the dramatic evidence. Members of Pistorius’ family who have turned out in force for the crucial hearing watched him with concern as he appeared to weep in the dock.

Mr Steenkamp described how he speaks to Reeva, a law graduate, constantly and still finds the pain of losing her unbearable. “Our lives have changed completely,” he said.

“I talk to her every day. You know, people say be patient, two years three years and you start feeling a bit better about the whole thing, but every day of my life is the same.

“Ever since Reeva’s death, I wouldn’t say I’ve become a recluse but I can’t really mix with people any more. And I sit on that veranda two o’clock in the morning which has become a habit and I smoke my cigarettes.

“It is very difficult to explain when you take about the incident. I don’t wish that on any human being.  It devastated us. I ended up having a stroke and so many things since then and I just don’t wish that on anyone in this whole world,” he said, his large body shaking with emotion and grief.

BY JANE FLANAGAN IN PRETORIA AND FIONN HARGREAVES The Sun Photo: