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Oscar Pistorius granted bail and will take murder appeal to constitutional court – as it happened

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 Updated 
Tue 8 Dec 2015 04.14 ESTFirst published on Tue 8 Dec 2015 01.51 EST

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Pistorius granted bail: summary

  • Oscar Pistorius will stay out of jail at least until he returns to court on 18 April 2016 after Judge Aubrey Ledwaba agreed that he should remain on bail, despite his fresh conviction for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.
  • Bail was set at just 10,000 rand (less than £500), payable by Friday, after the defence said Pistorius had no money left.
  • Ledwaba said it would not be in the interests of justice to restrict Pistorius to house arrest at his uncle’s Pretoria home for 24 hours a day, as the state had requested, so allowed him to keep his current freedom to leave the house between 7am and midday every day.
  • He will be electronically tagged, and must keep within a 20km radius of the house and surrender his passport.

We also learned that the defence will submit an appeal to the constitutional court against the murder conviction.

Pistorius will be electronically tagged and must submit travel plans to the investigating officer (whose cell phone number the judge has just read out on global television).

The judge says Pistorius will be able to leave the house every day between 7am and midday and can travel within a 20km radius of his uncle’s home.

He must not leave the district of Tshwane.

He must hand over his passport and must not apply for a new one.

Judge grants bail

Ledwaba says he does not think it is in the interests of justice for Pistorius not to leave the house at all.

He makes the following order:

  • Case postponed till 18 April 2016.
  • Pistorius is released on bail of 10,000 rand.

Judge: Pistorius is not a flight risk

Ledwaba says the defence wants bail to be granted while Pistorius applies to appeal against his murder conviction in the constitutional court.

He says Pistorius has proved that he is not a flight risk.

Even when facing possible life imprisonment, when charged with premeditated murder, he kept his bail conditions.

The state and the defence broadly agree on the bail application, the judge says.

But it is up to the court to decide, he points out, as is the case with any bail conditions.

Ledwaba asks Pistorius to stand.

Since the accused has now been accused of a more serious crime that could attract a sentence of 15 years or more, the judge says, the court needs to look carefully at the bail application.

Ledwaba asks about the 10,000 rand bail.

Nel says it needs to be paid to the court registrar by this Friday or bail will lapse.

Court resumes

Judge Aubrey Ledwaba is back to deliver his ruling on whether Pistorius can remain on bail under house arrest, or must return to jail.

We are still waiting for the judge to return with his decision on bail.

Two key revelations from the hearing so far:

  • The terms of Pistorius’ current house arrest allow him to leave his uncle’s home every day between 7am and midday. Although we knew he was carrying out community service, those precise terms were not previously known.
  • The bail bond now offered by the defence is just 10,000 rand (less than £500), as Pistorius, according to his lawyer, has no money.

A smiling #OscarPistorius at his bail hearing, he is going to appeal his murder conviction pic.twitter.com/dUqxG9y7id

— Stephanie Findlay (@SJFindlay) December 8, 2015

Bail hearing: what we learned

While we wait for the judge’s decision, here’s what the hearing revealed:

  • Oscar Pistorius will appeal against his conviction for murder, taking the challenge to the constitutional court.
  • In the meantime, the defence argues that he should be allowed to remain on bail, albeit under stricter house arrest conditions.
  • The state does not oppose bail, but wants Pistorius’ current permission to leave his uncle’s home between 7am and midday rescinded. Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court:

We feel strongly that we need to monitor the accused 24 hours.

We feel strongly that he should not leave the house at any time.

  • Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said he was minded to allow Pistorius to travel outside the house within a certain radius, but has not yet given his final ruling.
  • Both sides have agreed that Pistorius should be subject to electronic monitoring.
  • Bail is now fixed at 10,000 rand (less than £500), rather than a previous 1m rand guarantee. Defence attorney Barry Roux told the court of the higher sum:

He doesn’t have that money.

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