breaking
Oscar Pistorius granted release from prison after murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
The former Paralympic champion murdered his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013
Oscar Pistorius has had his parole application granted.
A parole board today (24 November) considered his case after his previous attempt for parole was shot down after he was told he wouldn't be eligible for consideration until next year.
He is set to be released from prison on 5 January, 2024.
Serious offenders in South Africa are only eligible for parole after they have served half of their sentence, which Pistorius has now done.
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The former Paralympic champion has spent the best part of a decade behind bars after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
In 2013, Pistorius was arrested after shooting her at their home in Pretoria, South Africa.
During his trial, Pistorius claimed that he shot Reeva by accident.
He told the court that he grabbed his gun in the middle of the night after hearing what he thought was a burglar.
However, the 37-year-old was eventually convicted of culpable homicide, an offence that's comparable to manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp several times through their toilet door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day.
The 2014 conviction was later increased to murder, and Pistorius was sentenced to over 13 years in prison.
Throughout the whole of his sentence, Steenkamp's family have fought against any hope of her killer being released early from prison.
Speaking previously about Pistorius, June Steenkamp said: "I don't believe his story. I don't believe Oscar is remorseful… or rehabilitated."
The couple's lawyer Tania Koen said they felt the once celebrated athlete knew what he was doing that night.
"For them, it's 10 missed birthdays, it's 10 Mother's Days, Father's Days, Christmases - so time hasn't healed for them," she told reporters at the prison," she said.
"They don't feel that he should be released."
Reeva's mother June did not attend the parole hearing, and her father Barry had died earlier this year.
Rob Matthews, a friend of the Steenkamp family, read out a statement on June's behalf outside the prison.
It read: "I simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage.
"I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar.
"In fact, I do not know anybody who does. My dearest child screamed for her life. … I believe he knew it was Reeva."
Pistorius had initially been incarcerated in Pretoria’s central prison, before being moved to the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in 2016.
Topics: Crime, Sport, World News
Dominic Smithers