Johannesburg - Oscar Pistorius has apparently admitted to a friend he is “terrified” of returning to prison – this as he’s expected to return to the high court in Pretoria on Tuesday as a convicted murderer after the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned a previous conviction of culpable homicide.
The court will then decide whether he should receive bail or return to jail until his resentencing, expected early next year.
According to the Daily Mail, which had an exclusive interview with boxer Kevin Lerena, Pistorius apparently broke down in a phone call this week: “I don’t want to go back to jail. It’s a terrible place, so disgusting you can’t imagine.”
Lerena, 23, was called by the State to give evidence against Pistorius during his murder trial.
The Daily Mail quoted Lerena as saying Pistorius was depressed, had lost all interest in training and women. He apparently also suggested that he feared for Pistorius’s life after his imprisonment left him “so low and without anything to live for”.
Pistorius may “do something stupid” rather than go back to prison.
Lerena, is also quoted as saying of Pistorius: “He has been left so down and broken by just one year inside, I don’t even want to think about what is going to happen to him if he goes back. I don’t think he will be able to handle it. He just seems to have given up on life.”
Lerena said: “I know they don’t let them have anything in jail that they can harm themselves with but, you know, this is South Africa, and you can buy stuff you want, even in jail.”
But news of Pistorius’s conviction of murder for the killing of Reeva on Valentine’s Day two years ago has meant justice at last for her parents. June Steenkamp attended proceedings in Bloemfontein on Thursday, while her husband Barry remained at their home in Port Elizabeth.
No members of the Pistorius family were present in court. Steenkamp told Sky News she was “overwhelmed emotionally” when the ruling was made, but believed it was the right one.
“The whole point was that he (Pistorius) did use those bullets, which are devastating, they crush your body inside. Anybody who picks up and uses a gun like that can only know that somebody is going to (die). It’s justice for Reeva, and for all… the abused women and children that suffer.
“He’s ruined his life. There’s no winner here. My daughter’s dead, our family is devastated living without her, and his family is devastated. And he is responsible for that.”
While the court dates are still uncertain, the NPA has said it must happen “as soon as possible”. But what is clear at this stage is that Pistorius will have to return to jail. The NPA has said scheduling of court dates depended on the schedule of the high court. Sentencing will depend specifically on the availability of trial Judge Thokozile Masipa, and is likely only going to happen next year.
Now that the Supreme Court of Appeal has overturned her verdict and replaced it with murder, she has no choice but to send him to jail for several years, acting Judge Francois Botes said.
The starting point for murder on the doctrine of dolus eventualis is 15 years, but legal experts agree that Pistorius will receive a lesser sentence, as compelling and substantial circumstances warranting this, will be present.
Saturday Star
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