Who is the person known as Oscar Pistorius?
Oscar Pistorius is a former world-class runner and has been found guilty of murder.
In 1986, he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa with a condition called fibular hemimelia. This means he was born without the fibula bone in both legs. When he was 11 months old, both of his legs were amputated below the knee.
Pistorius gained recognition as a competitive runner using prosthetic blades, leading to his nickname, Blade Runner.
In 2004, he participated in the Summer Paralympics in Athens and placed third in the 100m race. He then achieved a world record time of 21.97 seconds in the 200m race. In 2012, at the London Olympics, Pistorius made history as the first amputee runner to compete.
However, his athletic abilities were overshadowed in February 2013 when he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his residence in Pretoria, South Africa.
Can you tell me who Reeva Steenkamp is?
Reeva Steenkamp was both a model and a paralegal. She was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1983. Following her secondary education, she pursued a law degree at the University of Port Elizabeth, which later merged with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. In 2005, she successfully obtained her law degree.
Following her experience as a paralegal, she achieved success as a model, being featured in numerous magazines and representing brands like Avon cosmetics and Sivana Diamonds.
In 2012, she began a romantic relationship with Pistorius.
What occurred to Steenkamp?
On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Pistorius fired four shots through the locked door of his bedroom toilet, believing that there was an intruder. This occurred in the early hours of the morning.
During a television interview, he stated that he thought someone had entered his home, which caused him to feel immediate fear. As a result, he retrieved his gun and walked on his injured legs towards the bathroom where he then proceeded to shoot.
What was the outcome of the court proceedings following Steenkamp’s passing?
In 2014, Pistorius was found not guilty of murder and instead convicted of culpable homicide, which is similar to manslaughter. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
In October of 2014, he was placed under house arrest to complete the remainder of his sentence at his uncle’s residence in a affluent neighborhood of Pretoria.
However, in December of that year, the highest court of appeals reversed the decision made by the lower judge and deemed Pistorius responsible for murder. They argued that he should have anticipated the potential of fatally harming someone when he discharged his firearm.
In 2016, he was sentenced to six years in jail, which was less than the 15-year minimum requested by prosecutors.
However, in 2017, the highest court increased Pistorius’ sentence for murder to 13 years and five months. This decision was based on the state prosecutors’ claim that the initial prison term was excessively lenient.
What occurred today?
The correctional services department has verified that Pistorius will receive parole and will leave prison in January.
In March, his request for parole was rejected because he had not served the minimum amount of time necessary to be eligible for parole.
The constitutional court ruled in October that Pistorius had completed half of his sentence by March 21st of this year. This made him eligible for parole, as his sentence was retroactively dated to July 2016 instead of November 2017.
Source: theguardian.com
