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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2014 7:19:07 GMT
Oscar Pistorius’s former girlfriend has spoken of her terrifying relationship with the “angry and possessive” Paralympian. Samantha Taylor said she feared he would kill her and revealed she once hid his gun after he flew into a rage at her. Pistorius, 27, was cleared of murder yesterday, but he could still be jailed today for shooting dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. And ahead of the verdict, Samantha, 20, said: “It could have been me.” Samantha said she was left with bruises and scars after the Blade Runner bit and pinched her, but she was also tortured mentally by him during the 18-month relationship. She said: “Oscar used to lock me in his house and then go out. I had no food, I couldn’t get out. It was dangerous. “He often went out saying he will just be an hour or so and ended up out all day or night. I wouldn’t hear from him all night and his phone would be off. “He would say he’s going out for an hour and the next day, three in the morning, he would drive home.” She also described how he once left her paralysed with fear when he used his beloved Porsche as a weapon, driving her at up to 200mph to “punish” her. Pistorius shot Reeva, 29, on Valentine’s Day 2013. And since that moment, Samantha has had nightmares. Shuddering, she said: “What happened to Reeva Steenkamp could so easily have happened to me. I definitely think that could have been me – without a doubt – many, many, many times.” Samantha first met Pistorius in 2010 when she was 16 and he was 23 at a rugby match, but they did not start dating for another year. Speaking of one ordeal, she said: “He gets so mad, so angry he can’t even speak. “He was trying to string his words together, spitting, shouting, grabbing. It was horrible. He used to bite me a lot, pinch me in anger and in fun. I had bruises and scars. It was painful.” Another time the couple rowed when he accused her of sticking up for one of her ex-boyfriends. She said: “I was really scared. He made me stand on the stairs and shouted at me. It was like I was on the naughty step.” But one night, things got so bad she thought he was going to shoot her at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, with the gun he would later turn on Reeva. Samantha said: “I had to hide his gun, I was so scared of him. We had friends over for dinner, at his house and we’d all had a little to drink but I think he was going for one that night. He was on the hard liquor. He moved all the couches and set the floor on fire and danced around it. It was a marble floor and he used alcohol to light it on fire. He slipped and he chipped his tooth. But because he was so drunk he thought I’d beaten him up. He started screaming at me. He was looking for his gun. He was saying I was a bitch because I beat him up. ‘What kind of person are you? You bitch.’ I felt threatened. Both of us went upstairs to bed and I was walking a bit in front of him."
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Post by Admin on Oct 14, 2014 20:45:11 GMT
A probation officer has told the court in the Oscar Pistorius case that prison would break him. Annette Vergeer was speaking on the second day of hearings to determine his sentence for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Appearing as a defence witness, she said the system did not have the facilities to cope with the Paralympian's disability and that his rehabilitation had a far better chance of success outside jail. Her report recommended three years of "correctional supervision", that is house arrest. The officer said: "It would break him as a person and take away his future, and place a broken person back into society". Ms Vergeer also argued that the athlete had showed remorse for the killing, which was ruled culpable homicide after the judge accepted Oscar's explanation that he fired believing Reeva to be a burglar. She added that he has been paying a voluntary sum to her parents June and Barry Steenkamp. During her evidence they shook their head. The Steenkamps are expected to present their own victim impact statement to the court. Their section of the court was packed with their supporters including Samantha Taylor, an ex-girlfriend of Oscar's who previously gave evidence against him and Jared Mortimer – a man with whom he had nightclub scuffle in July. In cross examination the prosecution attempted to show that the charity work was done out of self-interest to further the athlete's public image. There is no minimum sentence for culpable homicide, meaning that Oscar could receive a suspended sentence or be set free. However, it's thought more likely that the judge will hand down a 5 to 10 year sentence.
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Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2014 15:50:00 GMT
The family of Oscar Pistorius has said he will "start his healing process" after he was sent down for killing his girlfriend, following a "harrowing" murder trial televised to people across the world. The Paralympic champion stood stoney-faced was given a five-year sentence for the manslaughter of Reeva Steenkamp - but his lawyers said he could be out within a year to serve the remainder on house arrest. Pistorius was jeered by a crowd later after he was led out of court and put in a police van, to be transported to prison. Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and aspiring lawyer, died in a hail of bullets. Prosecutors said Pistorius had opened fire in anger after the couple argued. The runner testified that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder who was about to come out of the toilet and attack him. Pistorius, 27, was sentenced to five years in jail for culpable homicide and also received a three year suspended sentence for a firearms charge. He was taken to the cells immediately from the courtroom. Barry and June Steenkamp, the parents of his victim, said they were happy with the verdict and relieved the proceedings were over. After the sentence, his uncle Arnold Pistorius said the family accepted the sentence and that they hoped Oscar would "start his own healing process as we walk down the path of restoration". He said: "Today a new season starts for us as a family. Not just the Pistorius family alone but the Steenkamp family. "It has been a harrowing 20 months. We are all emotionally drained and exhausted. "The case that was set down for three weeks originally has been dragged out for seven months – in fact, for 20 months." In delivering her decision, 67-year-old Masipa stressed the difficulty of arriving at a decision that was "fair and just to society and to the accused". She also rebuffed suggestions that Pistorius - a wealthy and influential white man - might be able to secure preferential justice despite the "equality before law" guarantee enshrined in the post-apartheid 1996 constitution. "It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were created that there is one law for the poor and disadvantaged, and one law for the rich and famous," she said.
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Post by Admin on Oct 22, 2014 15:17:35 GMT
The mother of the model shot dead by Oscar Pistorius has spoken of her relief after the paralympian athlete was sentenced to five years in prison. June Steenkamp told HELLO! in a world exclusive interview moments after the trial ended in South Africa: "It was the best sentence we could have expected. "We're not looking for vengeance or for him to get hurt; we're just happy because he's going to be punished for what he's done. He may come out early on good behaviour, but by the time he’s served that time, it will have taught him that he can't go around doing things like that. "I believe Oscar expected to go to prison," continued June, who has attended every day of the court case. "He was almost resigned to what was coming. It was obvious in the court from his manner; he was calm and wasn't performing." June's daughter Reeva Steenkamp, 29 , was shot dead on Valentine's Day 2013 in the early hours of the morning in the athlete's bathroom. As the ashen-faced athlete, who also received three years suspended for a firearm charge, was led down to the cells June, 67, glanced over at him and smiled with relief for the first time since the seven-month trial began. She added to HELLO!: "It's been a terrible, long journey." Says Reeva's father Barry: "We're both satisfied with the result and are relieved it's all over. All we want to do now is get on with our lives. "I'm looking forward to going home to my horses," continues the 71-year-old horse trainer, who runs a small stable near the coastal town of Port Elizabeth. "They haven't seen me for nearly two weeks, but I’ll be back with them by the end of the week."
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Post by Admin on Dec 4, 2015 7:46:14 GMT
A South African appeals court overturned Oscar Pistorius’s previous conviction on lesser charges in the death of his girlfriend, and found the Olympic sprinter guilty of murder, which could carry a sentence of at least 15 years in prison. The judgment was unanimous from the five justices presiding over the case at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, and Judge Eric Leach, in announcing the verdict, took a moment to marvel at the scope of the tragedy. “This case involves a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions: a young man overcomes huge physical disabilities to reach Olympic heights as an athlete; in doing so he becomes an international celebrity; he meets a young woman of great natural beauty and a successful model; romance blossoms; and then, ironically on Valentine’s Day, all is destroyed when he takes her life.”
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