Oscar Pistorius ‘to learn if conviction has been overturned this week’

Six-time Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will reportedly discover this week if his conviction for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is changed to murder.

Earlier this month, prosecutors lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to have the double amputee’s culpable homicide (manslaughter) conviction overturned.

Pistorius spent less than 12 months behind bars before being transferred to house arrest at his uncle’s luxury home in Pretoria.

According to the Daily Mail, Justice Eric Leah will tell the Supreme Court in the coming days whether or not the five-strong panel have decided to change the conviction to one of murder.

Pistorius, who escaped the more serious conviction after claiming that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four gunshots through a toilet door at his home on Valentine’s Day in 2013, will not be present when the decision is read out.

In South Africa, a murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.