Oscar Pistorius to get 24-hour police protection upon release, as Steenkamp's father calls latest meeting 'traumatising'
14 February 2023, 17:41 | Updated: 14 February 2023, 19:47
Former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will receive 24-hour police protection if freed on parole next month, as the father of victim Reeva Steenkamp labelled his recent face-to-face meeting with the athlete 'traumatising'.
Pistorius, 36, widely known as 'Blade Runner' due to his blade-like carbon fibre prosthetics, was convicted of culpable homicide in 2015 for the murder of then-girlfriend Steenkamp.
Steenkamp, 29, died on Valentine's Day 2013 when Pistorius claimed to have mistaken her for an intruder at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, using his gun to fire four shots at the bathroom door behind which his girlfriend stood.
Now, on the 10th anniversary of Steenkamp's murder, the former Olympian and Paralympian could be set for release 'within weeks' after being labelled a 'model inmate', serving just half of his sentence.
However, he's likely to be placed under 24-hour security according to the Daily Mail, after cops were told he'd crossed the radar of Johannesburg's underworld kingpins after threatening one of the city's renowned criminals.
Just weeks before shooting Steenkamp, the athlete, who had accumulated a hoard of 10 firearms - including a powerful AK-47, had shot a gun from a car sunroof and fired a handgun in a restaurant.
An event with sparked the interest of South Africa's criminal underworld, his trial only added fuel to the fire.
With Johannesburg hardman and former pro-footballer Marc Batchelor giving evidence for the prosecution, he spoke of his contempt for the athlete at trial after he was threatened.
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Pistorius was alleged to have said he would 'break his legs' over the dispute.
However, Batchelor was then shot dead by two masked men in his car in Olivedale, Johannesburg, three years ago in what was believed to be an organised hit, with no arrests made - and no connection to Pistorius apparent.
Detectives now believe Pistorius' name has been circulated among the city's underworld and contract killers after the string of incidents.
Initially sentenced to five-years in prison, the sentence was overturned, before later being upped to six years for murder after prosecutors appealed the 'shockingly lenient' punishment.
The Supreme Court of Appeal then more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and five months in prison in 2017.
Now, the father of Steenkamp has spoken of his recent face-to-face meeting with Pistorius in prison.
“He wasn’t wailing and crying like a baby, tears came into his eyes, yes,” said Steenkamp speaking on Good Morning Britain.
“But it wasn’t that dramatic that he was wailing and crying like a baby. It was really traumatising for myself.”
"I cut our chat short, because I didn't get the answers I wanted," added her father.
“Only Oscar knows the true story” behind his daughter's murder.
Reading a letter from Reeva’s mother June, 76, she begged him to admit that the killing was not accidental.
Rejected such suggestions, the athlete allegedly continued to assert it was simply a mistake.
June said later: “He never showed any remorse.”
She added: “I wrote a letter to him because I was actually afraid of what I would do. I didn’t know how I would react and because of that I decided not to go.
