Oscar Pistorius granted bail following murder conviction

Pistorius was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by a state appeals court last week, with the initial verdict of manslaughter amended.

At the bail hearing, Pistorius’ legal team, led by advocate Barry Roux, made clear their intention to challenge the appeal court’s decision in South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court.

Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, centre, arrives at the South African Gauteng Division High Court in Pretoria on 8 December.

“Whenever he moves or perhaps leaves the 20km radius he would be monitored electronically through the wristband from the Department of Correctional Services”, explained Mfaku.

“If he is given bail, it may come with different conditions”, criminal lawyer Martin Hood told AFP ahead of the hearing.

Pistorius also said he was now studying a business and law degree through the London School of Economics online.

Pistorius faces a minimum 15-year sentence for shooting Steenkamp in a case that has fascinated and divided South Africa, a country beset by high levels of violent crime.

South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail while he awaits sentence for murder.

He is now under house arrest at his uncle’s home, after serving one year of his previous five-year sentence in a Pretoria prison.

He will next return to court on April 18 to provide an update on his Constitutional Court appeal.

In the interim, Pistorius will be on bail, with the court outlining the conditions of his parole.

“He’s supposed to get 15 years in jail, he deserves it”, said Thomas Mdlule, a 30-year-old selling newspapers on a nearby corner. The appeals court then said the double-amputee Olympian should be sentenced by the lower court.

Pistorius has appealed against his conviction for murder, taking the challenge to the constitutional court.

Throughout his trial, Pistorius said that he had mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder when he shot her four times through a locked bathroom door.

The appeals court said that regardless of who was behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired multiple times.

“I have no income, but will continue to seek employment…”

The Judge told the court on Tuesday that Pistorius did not pose a flight risk.

Pistorius’ and Steenkamp’s families were not present in court Tuesday.

He rejected the prosecutor’s call for Pistorius to be forced to stay home all day, saying this would be a form of punishment and was not in the interests of justice.