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South African athlete Oscar Pistorius should not go to jail over the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, his sentencing hearing has been told.

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius should not go to jail over the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, his sentencing hearing has been told.

A correctional officer appearing for the defence said Pistorius should serve house arrest and community service.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel described the suggestion as "shockingly inappropriate".

Pistorius was found guilty of the culpable homicide of Ms Steenkamp last month - but was cleared of murder.

The decision was criticised by the victim's family.

Pistorius faces up to 15 years in jail, although Judge Thokozile Masipa may suspend the sentence or impose a fine.

She said the athlete had acted "negligently" when he shot his girlfriend through a toilet door, but had genuinely thought her to be an intruder.

At the sentencing hearing, Joel Maringa, a corrections officer summoned by the defence, said Pistorius should perform community service and receive three years of house arrest rather than imprisonment.

"The accused will benefit from correctional supervision," Mr Maringa said, adding that this will give him an "opportunity to restructure and modify his behaviour".

"We are basically not saying that he should be destroyed because he will still be coming back into the community," he said.

The court earlier heard a psychologist testify that Pistorius was a "broken man" after the killing.

'Very emotional'

The Paralympic sprinter had strenuously denied murdering Ms Steenkamp after a row on Valentine's Day last year, saying he shot her by mistake.

Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, was hit three times by bullets shot through a toilet door by Pistorius at his home in the capital, Pretoria.

According to the BBC's Africa correspondent in Pretoria, Andrew Harding there is a very real chance - backed up by precedent - that Pistorius could be given no jail time at all.

The judge could argue that he is a first-time offender who has shown genuine remorse. But given his criminal misuse of a firearm, what sort of message would that send to the public?

And - this is unanswerable, I suppose - would it even be in his own best interests to serve no prison time? Would the public here and abroad welcome him back into society, and what sort of stress would he find himself under?

Having given Pistorius the benefit of the doubt in reaching her verdict - and taken plenty of flak for it - Judge Masipa may choose to lean the other way in sentencing.

His psychologist, Lore Hartzenberg, was the first defence witness to speak at the sentencing hearing.

She told the courtroom that Pistorius was "very emotional" during grief therapy sessions, which were often disrupted by his weeping and retching.

Mr Nel said it was "very strange" that Ms Hartzenberg was "avoiding" answering questions about Mr Pistorius having a new relationship.

Ms Hartzenberg said Mr Pistorius had never mentioned a new girlfriend in the therapy sessions. She said she had only heard about the relationship from reports in the press.

Judge Masipa is to hear legal arguments and testimony from a number of witnesses before passing sentence.

The judge said the state had failed to prove he intended to kill.

The athlete, who has been on bail since the verdict, was also found guilty on a charge of negligently handling a firearm that went off in a restaurant.

He was acquitted of another charge of firing a gun in public, through the sunroof of a car, and of illegal possession of ammunition in the home where he killed Ms Steenkamp.

'Disbelief'

The parents of Ms Steenkamp said "justice was not served" after Pistorius was acquitted of murder.

June and Barry Steenkamp told NBC News of their "disbelief" that the court had believed Pistorius' version of events.

Earlier, Arnold Pistorius, the athlete's uncle, said the family was "deeply grateful" to the judge for finding him not guilty of murder and that a "big burden" had been lifted.

South Africa's prosecuting authority said it was "disappointed" that Pistorius was not convicted of murder but said it would wait until after sentencing to decide whether to appeal.

Despite the conviction, the International Paralympic Committee has said Pistorius will be allowed to compete in future events.

Director of media and communications Craig Spence told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Oscar's done a great deal for the Paralympic movement. He's been an inspiration to millions, but obviously his priority now is to see what the judge decides.

"If he wishes to resume his athletics career then we wouldn't step in his way. We would allow him to compete again in the future."