Having always been one to avoid violence-filled programmes because of my accute sensitivity to gruesome sights, my stomach churned as the disturbing details of tragic Reeva Steenkamp’s death emerged.

There are fewer shocking images than the one that was brought up on the screen, featuring beautiful Reeva’s brutal injuries, during the trial on Oscar Pistorius.

Although blurred out to viewers watching the programme, there was no doubt that it was a torturous image that will remain etched permanently io the minds of each and every person who was present in the courtroom that day.

Horror over the shooting reverberated throughout the community as the demise of paralympic star Pistorius was played out in an almost film-like manner.

Oscar had been a hero to the people of South Africa, a man who offered hope in the face of adversity, then, all of a sudden, a man who was accused of murdering his girlfriend.

The story has gripped, horrified and sickened people, and was played out in dramatic fashion in front of the entire globe.

But what worries me most is that the focus was mostly on the gore, the glamour and what led Pistorius to pull the trigger on that gun, rather than the fact that a family lost their daughter in the most tragic of circumstances.

In the months leading up to the final verdict, a media frenzy was caused when rumours of infidelity, jealousy and a volatile relationship between Reeva and Oscar flew.

Throughout the court proceedings, Pistorius was grilled on obscure text messages and arguments between he and Reeva, during the short four months they had been dating, before her death on Valentine’s Day.

But throughout the filming and media focus, Reeva’s grief-stricken mother, June, sat just a few inches from the man accused of murdering her daughter — stony-faced, silent, and heartbroken.

There is no doubt that the story of the relationship between model Reeva, and successful sports star Oscar, is immensely intriguing.

However I believe the media circus that has become of this trial has overshadowed the fact that a young, innocent woman was killed by the man she trusted and loved.

The fact that her family will be permanently scarred with the knowledge that their daughter was killed by a man they had never even met, is almost too harrowing to bear. With the trial now having come to an end, let’s hope that Reeva’s family will now be able to grieve in peace, without them being sucked into the sensational horror show it has become.