Oscar Pistorius has been treated in hospital for injuries sustained to his wrists during a fall in his prison cell, officials have said. Both the former athlete, who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and his family denied local media reports that the injuries were self-inflicted.
According to a spokesman for South Africa’s correctional services department, Pistorius said he suffered the minor injuries when he fell out of bed, while Pistorius’ brother, Carl, said he slipped in his cell.
The South African newspaper City Press cited unnamed sources at the prison as saying that Pistorius had injured himself intentionally and that razor blades had been found in his cell. It also quoted an anonymous security guard at the hospital Pistorius was taken to as saying he was being treated for “bad cuts”.
Carl Pistorius denied these reports, however, saying he had “just seen Oscar and he is doing well given the circumstances”. He said his brother was in good spirits.
In a tweet posted on Sunday, Carl Pistorius added: “I know there are reports saying that he had tried to injure himself – they completely untrue and sensational. All other crazy and unreliable news stories are also baseless.” He said his brother’s injuries were “nothing serious”.
Oscar Pistorius was initially treated by medical staff at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, then transferred to Kalafong hospital, a correctional services department official told the Associated Press. He was returned to his cell on Saturday and an investigation was launched.
“Oscar Pistorius denied speculations of a suicide attempt. As a policy principle, we cannot further discuss a particular offender’s personal condition in the public domain,” said the official. The Reuters news agency quoted the department’s spokesman, Singabakho Nxumalo, as saying that Pistorius had told officials he fell out of bed.
Oscar Pistorius is serving a six-year jail term for murdering Steenkamp, having seen it increased by one year from five in July. He shot her through a toilet cubicle door in his home in the early hours of 14 February 2013.
He previously served a one-year prison sentence for her manslaughter but that conviction was upgraded to murder after a prosecution appeal, leading to a new sentencing.
Last month, South African prosecutors said they would appeal his latest jail sentence, saying it was “shockingly lenient”. Pistorius could be released on parole after three years. The prescribed minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, though a judge can reduce that penalty in some circumstances.
Commenting on the decision to send Pistorius to a hospital, Nxumalo referred to past reports of tension between the convicted murderer and a prison nurse who testified about alleged confrontations over medication and other issues while the runner was serving an earlier manslaughter sentence, the Associated Press said. Pistorius’ defence team has claimed those reports were exaggerated.
Pistorius has been held in a single cell in the hospital wing of the prison, reducing his interaction with other inmates.
At his sentencing hearing in June, a psychologist testified for the defence that the athlete was a “broken” man whose mental state had deteriorated over the last two years, and that he should be hospitalised rather than jailed. Prosecutors have challenged such assessments, saying Pistorius has an aggressive streak and may have played up vulnerabilities in an attempt to win leniency from the judge presiding over his case.
Pistorius reached the pinnacle of his fame in 2012 when he became the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, making the 400 metres semi-finals in London before taking two golds in the Paralympics.
