SOUTH AFRICAN OLYMPIC and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has arrived in court to face charges that he murdered his model girlfriend at his luxury home on Valentine’s Day.
Two police vehicles arrived at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, with the amputee athlete, nicknamed ‘Blade Runner’ sitting in the back of one, his head covered in a jacket.
His legal team is expected to apply for bail during a hearing this morning but police have said they will oppose it.
Model Reeva Steenkamp (below) was found dead at Pistorius’s home in Silver Lakes, Pretoria in the early hours of yesterday morning, reportedly shot four times in the upper body and head.
Steenkamp’s uncle, Mike Steenkamp, told eNCA that the 30-year-old’s “future has been cut short”. He said that her family in Cape Town has been left devastated by the news.
“How it pans out at the end of the day, we will all know the story, the true story but we must never forget what Reeva stood for,” he told the media.
“She loved people, she loved everybody and that was her heart that went out and you should know exactly what she’s accomplished in the past.”
Pistorius and Steenkamp at a party in Johannesburg in January. Picture: Elite/EMPICS Entertainment
Pistorius, 26, was still at the scene when police came to question him early yesterday morning and was described as being in shock.
Initial reports that the victim had been mistaken for a burglar were dismissed by police.
The athlete became the first amputee to compete in the Olympics at London 2012 having previously enjoyed significant success at the Paralympic Games.
He won gold in the 4×400 relay at the most recent Paralympic event in London last year.
A congenital condition meant he had to have both legs amputated below the knee before he was aged one. Last year he was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
Picture: John Walton/PA Wire
More: South Africa police say Pistorius will not get special treatment
Read: Oscar Pistorius profile: the inspirational ‘Blade Runner’
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