PRETORIA:
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp will not pursue a civil claim against
Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter and will pay back around
$10,000 that the athlete gave them in monthly instalments to help with
living expenses, they said in a statement on Wednesday.
Lawyer
Dup de Bruyn said he had also advised Barry and June Steenkamp to remain
"neutral" with regard to Pistorius' sentence for negligently killing
Reeva Steenkamp by shooting her multiple times in his home.
Relatives of victims sometimes testify to their suffering in sentencing
hearings, but de Bruyn suggested Steenkamp's parents would not. However,
de Bruyn said the parents were "quite surprised" that Pistorius's
lawyers had raised the issue of payments when the athlete had asked the
Steenkamps that they be kept confidential.
Judge Thokozile
Masipa will decide Pistorius's punishment after finding him guilty last
month of culpable homicide and has wide latitude with the sentence. The
judge could send the double-amputee Olympic runner to prison for as many
as 15 years, or order a fine and a suspended sentence. House arrest is
also an option, and has been suggested by two social workers during this
week's hearing.
Pistorius was convicted of acting negligently in Steenkamp's death on Feb. 14, 2013 but acquitted of murder.
De Bruyn released the statement on behalf of the Steenkamps ahead of
the third day of the sentencing hearing Wednesday, saying they had
accepted monthly payments of $550 from Pistorius from March 2013 — weeks
after their daughter's shooting death — until last month.
"After Miss Steenkamp (the deceased) was killed ... the parents were in
financial difficulties," the parents' statement issued by their lawyer
said.
"We were contacted soon afterwards by Pistorius's lawyers
with an offer that Pistorius would contribute an amount ... towards the
parents' rental and living expenses."
Revelations over
payments to the Steenkamps by Pistorius were made in court on Tuesday,
when the chief prosecutor said the Steenkamps had refused a separate
settlement offer of $34,000 from Pistorius and considered it "blood
money."
"When the parents were made aware of this offer, they
considered it carefully but decided, for various reasons, that they did
not want any payment from Pistorius," the Steenkamp lawyer statement
said. "This is also why we were instructed to advise that no civil claim
would be instituted."
De Bruyn said he had approached
Pistorius's legal team over a possible civil settlement. Pistorius
apparently then made the $34,000 offer after selling what he said was
his last asset, a car. The parents considered it and turned it down.
The world-famous athlete has had to sell many of his assets, including
the house where he killed Steenkamp, to pay his high-powered defense
team during a lengthy murder trial.
