Oscar due in court for first time since ConCourt rejection

Oscar Pistorius is due in the Pretoria High Court on Monday for the first time since he lost his final bid to be able to appeal his murder conviction.

The case is expected to be formally postponed to June for sentencing proceedings.

The double-amputee athlete must be sentenced afresh after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) last year overturned his culpable homicide conviction for shooting and killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and replaced it with a murder conviction.

Pistorius‚ 29‚ shot Steenkamp‚ 29‚ through a locked toilet door at his Pretoria home on February 14 2013. He said that he had fired the four shots believing that an intruder was hiding behind the door and his life and Steenkamp's were in danger.

The Constitutional Court last month dismissed Pistorius's application for leave to appeal to that court against the SCA ruling.

Pistorius has not been seen in public since that decision. He is out on bail of R10 000 and has been living at his uncle Arnold's luxury home in Waterkloof‚ Pretoria‚ ever since his release from prison in October last year.

He had served about a year of the five-year jail term imposed on him before being released under correctional supervision.

The state or the defence may ask for alterations to Pistorius' bail conditions now that his attempt to appeal his murder conviction has failed.

Pistorius' current bail conditions allow him to leave his uncle's house between 7am and noon. He is not allowed to travel beyond 10km from his uncle's house.

The Office of the Chief Justice announced last month that Pistorius's sentencing proceedings have been set down for June 13 to 17 after agreement between the state and defence lawyers and Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba.