A MUM has spoken of her surprise after Oscar Pistorius posted a picture of himself with her disabled daughter to his 356,000 Twitter followers as his murder trial draws to a close.

Pistorius shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year.

The six-time Paralympic gold medallist denies murder and claims it was a tragic accident after mistaking her for an intruder.

Pistorius hadn't used the social media site to send messages since the anniversary of Miss Steenkamp's death on February 14, but last week he sent a series of tweets to his legion of followers.

One was a montage of pictures showing him with disabled youngsters, including Little Clacton schoolgirl Ellie May Challis, ten.

Ellie May, of Weeley Road, lost both her hands and legs to meningitis when she was a toddler.

She had carbon-fibre blades fitted to her legs, and four years ago met her hero Pistorius, who ran using similar blades and was the first disabled athlete to run in the able-bodied Olympics at the London 2012 Games.

Ellie-May's mum Lisa said: "What can you make of it? Maybe he is trying to show he is a loving and caring person.

"It's very hard because he obviously knows he has done wrong and someone has lost their life through this moment of madness, whether it was on purpose or not. Ellie May was heartbroken after Pistorius was arrested on suspicion of murder."

The youngster is a talented swimmer and is training to become a Paralympian.