Has Oscar Pistorius Paid His Legal Bills? Court Hears Bladerunner is 'Destitute'

Oscar Pistorius is destitute and has no money to pay for his legal expenses, the runner's sentencing hearing was told.

Pistorius, 27, has no assets at all left to sell to raise money, claimed lawyer Barry Roux during mitigation.

Roux told the High Court in Pretoria: "He's a person who's down and out. He's not only broke, he's broken."

The claim by Pistorius' lawyer – who charges up to £5,000 a day – lifted the lid on what dismal circumstances have befallen the former track icon, from being a millionaire with lucrative sponsorship deals and a property portfolio.

Roux said: "He hasn't even got money to pay for legal expenses. He's lost his property. He's not earned a penny since [he killed Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year]. He has no sponsors. He's a person's who's down and out. He's not only broke, he's broken. There's nothing left of this man."

Pistoris sobbed during the testimony, in which he described as a "compromised person" who "did not consciously act unlawfully" when he gunned down model Steenkamp in a hail of bullets.

While Roux's portrait of Pistorius is to be expected given he is seeking to win a leniant sentence for the convicted killer, it does ring true with other details which emerged during the trial.

It was revealed previously Pistorius has sold three homes in order to raise funds for his costly defence and for less than their expected value. His "last asset" – a car, was sold to fund payments to Steenkamp's family, branded "blood money" by her mother June.

But scorn was poured on the image of Pistorius as a broken man by prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who called for him to get 10 years in jail.

Nel strongly suggested Pistorius's acts of contrition were disingenuous and that his chief regret was about his own downfall.

He said Pistorius should not get a non-custodial sentence which enables him to serve it in a "luxurious house."