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Oscar Pistorius
Pistorius was found guilty of murdering Reeva Steenkamp after previous conviction for culpable homicide was overturned. Photograph: Gallo Images
Pistorius was found guilty of murdering Reeva Steenkamp after previous conviction for culpable homicide was overturned. Photograph: Gallo Images

Oscar Pistorius tells court he is studying law via London university

This article is more than 8 years old

Paralympian said in affidavit at hearing in which he was granted bail that he needs daily internet access for his studies

Oscar Pistorius has said he is studying law through a London university, as he awaits sentencing for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The Paralympian said in his affidavit at a bail hearing on Tuesday: “I have enrolled at the London School of Economics for a BSc business with law degree. I study by way of correspondence and need daily access to the internet for this purpose.”

An LSE spokeswoman said she could not comment on individual students but that there is no business and law BSc taught at the university. Pistorius may have been referring to the BSc in management and law, offered as an international programme by the University of London and which LSE provides academic support and direction for.

A University of London spokeswoman also said she could not comment on individual students. The BSc in management and law states that it is for people who wish to pursue a career in management and “would like to study courses that have relevance to your experience and local environment”. It does not contain any criminal law modules.

Students have three to eight years to complete the programme or a minimum of two years on the graduate entry route, and the fees, based on 2015-16 figures, are £4,205 for the standard route or £3,175 as a graduate. Pistorius’s murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

He began a degree in business management at the University of Pretoria in 2006 but it is unclear if he ever completed it as his sporting career took off.

At Tuesday’s hearing the athlete was granted bail of R10,000 (£460) after he said in the affidavit that he could not afford to pay more.

Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, on Valentine’s Day in 2013. He was found guilty of murder last week after the supreme court of appeal overturned a previous conviction for culpable homicide, the South African equivalent of manslaughter.

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