Heightened security in Pistorius court could be in light of threats to athlete

The Institute for Secret Studies has said that the heightened security ahead of Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius' sentencing in his murder case on Monday could have been because of security threats.

Senior researcher Johan Burger said that the police in these kinds of high-profile cases does a threat assessment, which is not a once-off thing. He added that they either received information of threats or it is quite possible that in view of the fact, against the expectation of many, Pistorius was not convicted of murder, but of a much lesser charge.

Burger said that it is possible that someone out there might have thought that this is not fair and they possibly threatened Pistorius, Sport24 reported.

Burger added that this was just speculation. Other reasons behind the heightened security could have been that the court did an assessment and decided to improve security.

The senior researcher said that there might be something else they may not know about that caused them to upgrade security.

Security guards earlier on Monday wheeled out a bag scanner and a walk-through metal detector to the entrance of the court. This was the first time the devices were placed at the courtroom. The athlete arrived at court on Monday morning and was escorted by a group of police wearing bulletproof jackets.

Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide on 12 September for the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year. Judge Thokozile Masipa found him not guilty of murdering Steenkamp, the report added.