24 Feb 2013

Oscar Pistorius released on bail

9:09 am on 24 February 2013

A South African judge has granted bail to Oscar Pistorius, charged with murdering his girlfriend, saying the state had not made a case that he would flee.

The Paralympic athlete denies murder and says he shot Reeva Steenkamp, 29, in the early hours of 14 February thinking she was an intruder at his home near Pretoria.

Magistrate Desmond Nair said the state had not made a case that Pistorius was flight risk or that he had a violent character.

The judge set bail at 1 million rand, ordered the sprint star to hand over his passport, avoid his home in Pretoria and report to a police station twice a week. The next hearing in the case has been set for 4 June.

The athlete's family and supporters in the court gasped and cheered as the magistrate announced his decision.

Mr Nair took almost two hours to deliver his judgement, the BBC reports. He criticised the testimony of Detective Hilton Botha for not following up important leads and changing his evidence.

But the magistrate also said he had difficulty understanding why Pistorius had opened fire in the way he did.

The hearing began on Tuesday and both prosecution and defence laid out their cases.

Both sides agree that Pistorius shot through the bathroom door four times, hitting and killing Ms Steenkamp, but prosecutors allege the shooting happened after the couple had an argument.

Detective Botha told the court that witnesses had heard shouting, screaming and gunfire from about 600 metres but later changed his evidence to suggest the witnesses were much closer.

On Thursday it emerged that the detective faces allegations of attempted murder, and he was removed from the case.

Ms Steenkamp was a model and law graduate with a burgeoning television career.

Oscar Pistorius, 26, won gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

In London he made history by becoming the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics, making the semi-final of the 400m.