Tread carefully with Oscar’s parole

Many will argue there is no greater pain for a parent than losing their child. When that child’s life is taken through murder, it must make the grief even more unimaginable. It’s with this in mind that processes need to be strictly adhered to when granting a murderer parole, which is why there is such an outcry following calls for Oscar Pistorius to be granted parole after only serving half of his 15-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Barry and June Steenkamp, the parents of the slain model, have made it clear to Pistorius’ lawyer Julian Knight “we remain of the view that your client is not yet eligible for consideration for placement on parole...”

Knight accused the Steenkamps of “deliberately punishing” Pistorius, but later apologised.

Criminologist Prof Anni Hesselink said: “Clearly it is a problem to come to the victim’s dialogue at the moment, which shows that they [Steenkamps] have not yet made peace with what happened.”

The Paralympian may have served more than half his sentence but we, like many, feel more needs to happen before that decision can be taken.