Oscar Pistorius sentencing: Reeva Steenkamp’s family ‘will return Pistorius’s money’

Barry and June Steenkamp will pay back around £6,250 that the athlete gave them in monthly instalments to help with their living expenses

The parents of Reeva Steenkamp will not pursue a civil claim against Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter and will pay back cash he gave them because they do not want his money, they have said.

Barry and June Steenkamp will pay back around £6,250 that Pistorius gave them in monthly instalments to help with their living expenses, they said in a statement released by their lawyer.

Pistorius’s defence lawyer, Barry Roux, later read the statement in court at the athlete’s sentencing hearing, and said Pistorius gave the parents the money “unconditionally” and did not want it back.

Pistorius, 27, was found guilty last month of negligently killing his girlfriend. He could face years in prison, although he could also receive a suspended jail term and a fine.

Ms Steenkamp’s cousin later sobbed as she told the South African court how she first heard Pistorius had killed his girlfriend on the radio. Kim Martin said she had “hoped to God” the woman he had shot was not Reeva.

AP