Showing him smiling in the autumn sunshine, these are the first pictures of Oscar Pistorius since his release from jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The disgraced former Paralympian, 37, was seen for the first time after serving seven years behind bars – as he reported to the parole office in Pretoria.
Although Pistorius, known as ‘The Blade Runner’ because of his prosthetic legs, appeared happy as he walked, his years in jail have clearly taken their toll on the athlete.
His slender frame suggests he has shed some of the weight he reportedly put on while in prison to the extent that his prosthetic legs no longer fit him.
Now his hair is grey and thinning, and he is also believed to have become a chain smoker in prison.
It was reported in January that Pistorius was concerned about his muscular decline due to lack of daily running while imprisoned.
However, these pictures show he still has an athletic build.
He killed Reeva, 29, on Valentine’s Day 2013, shooting her through the locked door of their bathroom and later claiming he had thought she was an intruder.
Since his release, the star has remained holed up in his uncle’s £2million luxury mansion in Waterkloof, Pretoria, after being warned by parole officers not to be photographed.
Smiling in the spring sunshine, these are the first pictures of Oscar Pistorius since his release from jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
The disgraced former Paralympian (pictured), 37, was seen for the first time after serving seven years behind bars – as he reported to the parole office in Pretoria. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
The former athlete was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013
Pistorius was seen walking along a row of parked cars near the parole offices
Pistorius was seen leaving the Department of Correctional Services offices in Pretoria. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
The gun-fanatic has been allowed out on parole until 2029 and must adhere to a number of conditions set down by Atteridgeville Correction Services officials.
He has to undergo a course of ‘anger management’ to help him cope with his fierce temper which prosecutors said led him to kill Reeva.
The former athlete can no longer be the party animal that he was before he gunned down Reeva in his apartment on February 14, 2013.
He is barred from drinking alcohol and handling any weapons and must inform his parole officers of his whereabouts and remain at his uncle Arnold’s home during set hours.
Pistorius has also been banned from giving media interviews, which will came as a further blow as major US talk shows were hoping to line him up as a star guest.
He remains under house arrest at his uncle’s home – and is said to pray most of the day in between playing video games and greeting friends and family.
He has the use of a swimming pool, gym and games room and when he dines with his uncle and aunt they hold hands and the devout Christians pray before eating.
Uncle Arnold has been a quasi-father figure to Pistorius since his youth, having taken responsibility for him and siblings Aimee and Carl in the wake of the death of his mother Sheila when he was just 15.
Sources said Pistorius rarely ventures out and prefers friends to visit as he is petrified Johannesburg’s underworld figures will take revenge on him.
He has done some volutary work at a nearby church. One parishioner told the New York Post: ‘He’s not friendly, not outgoing. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him crack a smile. He’s just a shadow of what he once was.’
Since his first trial in 2014, when Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide – later overturned in favour of murder – after shooting and killing Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home, the former athlete has leaned heavily on his faith. He often brought a rosary to court, and was pictured reading ‘Breakthrough Prayer: The Power of Connecting with the Heart of God’ by Jim Cymbal during breaks.
Pistorius (right) appeared to be approached by a man on the street in Pretoria. It was not clear what the man said to the former Olympian, but he grinned back. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Gun-fanatic Pistorius has been allowed out on parole until 2029 and must adhere to a number of conditions set down by Atterridgeville Correction Services officials. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Pistorius appeared to exchange a few words with a man on the street outside the parole office. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
The convicted killer then continued to walk up the road towards he own vehicle. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Pistorius was snapped grinning in the sunshine in South Africa’s city of Pretoria. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
The man was seen following Pistorius as the former ‘Blade Runner’ arrived at his car (right). Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Pistorius is seen getting in to the SUV on the road near the Department of Correctional Services offices. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Under the parole conditions, Pistorius is barred from drinking alcohol and handling any weapons. He must also inform his parole officers of his whereabouts and remain at his uncle’s home during set hours. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Pistorius (pictured behind the wheel) has also been banned from giving media interviews, which will came as a further blow as major US talk shows were hoping to line him up as a guest. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
Sources said Pistorius rarely ventures out and prefers friends to visit as he is petrified Johannesburg’s underworld figures will take revenge on him. Deaan Vivier/Netwerk24/Gallo Images
In January, exclusively revealed how Pistorius’s famous ‘blade runner’ prosthetic legs no longer fit him after his years of inactivity in prison – and told how he fears he will never be able to run properly again.
On the witness stand, it recurred as a theme as he told the court that faith was ‘the thing that has got me through this past year’, and discussed Steenkamp’s faith, sharing how they would pray together before meals and how she would pray ‘about my training’.
During his time in prison he started a Bible study group and led prayer meetings, and reports circulated around the time of his release that he was mulling the idea of becoming a preacher.
Pistorious’s father Henke is said to be ‘happy’ with his son’s living arrangements and the star’s sister Aimee flew South Africa from her London home to spend time there on his release.
The lack of daily running while imprisoned means his legs have shrunk and are no longer compatible with the trademark bespoke blades he wore to compete on the track.
He called in doctors while in Atteridgeville Prison in Pretoria because he was concerned about the muscular decline.
Dr Gerald Versfeld, the orthopaedic surgeon who carried out the double amputation, went to see the killer in jail to help fit new prostheses after he complained the ones he entered jail with were uncomfortable and did not fit anymore.
It was established that Pistorius, who was 6ft tall in his prime on his artificial limbs, had experienced reduction in the length of his remaining thighs.
Pistorius was the darling of world sport after competing in the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics before the killing – as sponsors were falling over themselves to offer him commercial deals.
He secured the lucrative deals with his tragic backstory of how who was born without fibulas and had both legs amputated below the knees before his first birthday.
He has never admitted he deliberately shot model Reeva and continues to claim it was an accident.
The Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria was Pistorius’ home for a large portion of his time behind bars
Since his release, the star has remained holed up in his uncle’s £2million luxury mansion in Waterkloof Pretoria, after being warned by parole officers not to be photographed or engage with the media
The extensive grounds have views over Pretoria – but Pistorius is thought to spend most of his time in his bedroom
The shamed star has stuck to his line that he believed an intruder had broken into his apartment as he and Reeva slept.
He gunned her down through a toilet door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 and claimed it was an accident as he believed an intruder had entered his home.
But after a year of protracted court hearings his conviction of culpable homicide was changed to murder. Instead of life, he was punished with a 13-and-a-half-year sentence.
Reeva’s parents Barry and June Steenkamp campaigned for Pistorius to come clean and admit he intentionally shot their daughter.
Barry died last year after meeting his daughter’s killer and failing to get him to admit the murder.
Mrs Steenkamp told : ‘There was a row. Neighbours heard screaming – a woman’s scream – Reeva’s scream. I believe the neighbours.
‘I believe that Reeva wanted to leave him that night and ran to the toilet in fear to hide from him. The evidence in court leaves me with no doubt that he knew it was Reeva behind the toilet door when he fired four black talon bullets through the door.
‘Those bullets explode when it hits human flesh. He knows guns, and he knew what those bullets would do to my beautiful daughter. He knew it would kill her.’
Mrs Steenkamp, who is from Blackburn, Lancashire, said it was her own faith which enabled her to forgive Pistorius for murdering her daughter.
Steenkamp’s parents Barry and June believed that Pistorius should not be released early
Oscar Pistorius wins gold in the men’s 400-metre T44 final at the 2012 Paralympics in London
Pistorius leaves the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria October 15, 2014
‘My Christianity requires me to forgive. I forgave Oscar a long time ago. I forgive for my own sake, not for his,’ she said.
‘Forgiveness does not mean he must not pay for what he has done. Oscar did not only take Reeva’s life when he killed Reeva in cold blood, he also took Barry and my life. Our joy, our future grandchildren.
‘He also took our privacy away. We have been criticised and insulted by some members of the public, who had victimised Barry and I, as if we had been the ones who did something wrong.
‘(It was like) as if we had been the ones to pull the trigger four times through a closed door and killed an innocent person.’