'Blade Runner'-Oscar Pistorius
Jailed Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been stripped of an honorary degree awarded to him by Strathclyde University in 2012, the Scottish institution announced on Monday.
“We have revoked the honorary degree awarded to Oscar Pistorius following his conviction for culpable homicide,” said a spokesman from the university.
Pistorius, 28, was jailed for five years by a Pretoria court last October after being found guilty of culpable homicide over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
He said he shot her four times through a locked toilet door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, believing she was an intruder.
Prosecutors argued that he deliberately killed the 29-year-old law graduate after a row, but this was not accepted by the trial judge and he escaped a murder conviction.
The case is due to go before South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, which could see Pistorius handed a heavier sentence.
Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knee at the age of 11
months due to a congenital defect, is a six-time Paralympic champion.
Known as the ‘Blade Runner’, he made history at the 2012 London Olympics
by becoming the first double-leg amputee to compete at both the Olympic
and Paralympic Games.
He was awarded an honorary degree by Strathclyde University later that year and travelled to Glasgow to receive the award.