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Oscar Pistorius ‘cried himself to sleep’ on first day in prison
The Correctional Services department on Thursday declined to comment on a report that convicted paralympian Oscar Pistorius wept himself to sleep on his first day in prison.
FILE PICTURE: South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius drools on October 17, 2014 during his sentencing hearing at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Pistorius could be jailed for 10 years or return to serve house arrest on October 21, 2014 when he will be sentenced for killing model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. AFP PHOTO / POOL / MUJAHID SAFODIEN
“We have never given a blow-by-blow account of how an offender is progressing on a day to day basis,” department spokesman Manelisi Wolela said.
“We have never done that for other offenders and we won’t do that for him.”
The Times quoted sources as saying that Pistorius cried quite a bit before falling asleep at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria on his first night there.
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Oscar Pistorius holds the hands of family members as he is taken down to the holding cells after being sentenced to five years imprisonment for the culpable homicide killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the high court in Pretoria, Tuesday, 21 October 2014. Picture: Herman Verwey/Media24/Pool
“You could hear him. Shortly after the door closed you could hear the tears … he was torn up. Broken. The crying went on and on. We think he stopped when he fell asleep. It was really bad,” a prison source said.
Another source said he was being monitored constantly.
The newspaper reported that his routine in prison would include waking up at 5.30am daily, eating breakfast at 7am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 4pm — all in his cell.
It reported that this week he would begin a 21-day risks and needs assessment. His orientation would include warning him of the dangers such as gangsterism and contraband, and determining whether he was a suicide risk.
Pistorius was sentenced to prison for five years for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He shot her through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home thinking she was an intruder.
– Sapa
