Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius was "negligent" when he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year, South African Judge Thokozile Masipa said on Thursday.

Masipa, who adjourned the reading of her verdict until 0730 GMT (3:30 a.m. EDT) on Friday, also said she was "not persuaded" that a reasonable person with Pistorius' abilities would have fired the shots that killed the law graduate and model.

(Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Ed Cropley)