Did Pistorius get special treatment on birthday?

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - Oscar Pistorius, serving a five-year prison sentence for killing his girlfriend, received a long visit from his brother and sister for his 28th birthday that may have bent the rules of his incarceration, a South African newspaper reported yesterday.

Carl and Aimee Pistorius were able to visit the double-amputee track star for nearly two hours on Saturday morning at Pretoria’s central prison, the Sunday Times reported.

Pistorius is technically allowed five hour-long visits per month, the paper said. His siblings also brought balloons, gifts and a birthday cake bought outside the prison, which would usually not be allowed, the paper added, while their vehicles did not appear to have been searched.

Prison services spokesman Logan Maistry told the paper that Pistorius had not been given special treatment, but said the allegations would be investigated.

Because of his physical disability, Pistorius, sentenced last month, is being held in the prison’s hospital ward.

The fallen Paralympian gold medallist shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year.

He said he shot the model four times through a locked bathroom door because he thought she was an intruder. He was found guilty of culpable homicide, escaping a harsher murder conviction.

Prosecutors are appealing against his prison term, which they have called “shockingly light”. Under South African law, he could serve just 10 months in jail. The application for appeal is set for Dec 9.