Pistorius sent for 30 days of psychiatric tests

South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius was ordered today to undergo a month of psychiatric tests to find out whether he was criminally responsible on the night he shot dead his girlfriend on February 14th last year.

Judge Thokozile Masipa told Mr Pistorius he had to report to Pretoria's Weskoppies hospital, one of South Africa's top mental institutions, as an outpatient for up to 30 days, starting on May 26th.

Mr Pistorius has denied he killed Ms Steenkamp in cold blood, saying he shot four times at the toilet door of his luxury Pretoria home to protect himself from what he thought was an intruder.

Mr Pistorius competed in the Olympic Games on carbon-fibre prosthetics, becoming one of the most recognised names in athletics.

He won a clutch of Paralympic medals and reached the semi-finals of the 400m at the London 2012 Olympics.

Agencies