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| Pistorius sent for psychiatric tests | Pistorius sent for psychiatric tests |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has ordered him to start daily tests on Monday to assess his mental state when he killed his girlfriend. | |
| Judge Thokozile Masipa told the South African athlete to attend Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria as an outpatient for a month. | |
| It comes after a defence witness said the double amputee was suffering from generalised anxiety disorder (Gad). | It comes after a defence witness said the double amputee was suffering from generalised anxiety disorder (Gad). |
| Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. | Mr Pistorius denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. |
| He says he accidentally shot her through the toilet door on Valentine's Day last year in a state of panic, mistaking the 29-year-old model and law graduate for an intruder. | |
| The prosecution had argued the tests were essential after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster told the court in Pretoria the double amputee was "a danger to society". | |
| But the defence vigorously opposed the move. | |
| Judge Masipa said on Wednesday that four appointed psychiatrists would "inquire into whether the accused by reason of mental illness or mental defect was at the time of the commission of the offence criminally responsible for the offence as charged." | |
| She said the team would decide whether he was "capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act". | |
| The matter was postponed until 30 June, when the trial is expected to resume. | |
| There are no juries at trials in South Africa, so the athlete's fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors. | |
| If found guilty of murder, Mr Pistorius could face life imprisonment. If he is acquitted of that charge, the court will consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for which he could receive about 15 years in prison. |