Convicted murderer and Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius has allegedly been injured in a prison fight while waiting to use the communal phone.
Pistorius was in line to use the phone at Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, near Pretoria, when the fight broke out with an inmate “he knows well”, according to MailOnline.
He reportedly “sustained a bruise”, but if Pistorius is found to be the one who started the fight, he could have his “low risk” status re-classified.
Spokesman for the prison, Singabakho Nxumalo told MailOnline that Pistorius’s unit is “where inmates with special needs and different sexual orientation are held for their own protection”.
“He was involved in an altercation with another inmate over the use of a public phone in the special care unit, where both offenders are detained. The men know each other well,” Nxumalo said.
Olympian sprinter Oscar Pistorius posing next to his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Jan. 26, 2013. (Waldo Swiegers/AFP/Getty Images)“As standard operating procedure regarding cases of alleged assaults, the Department of Correctional Services has launched an internal investigation into the matter to establish the facts and to ensure that appropriate action is taken as incidents of assault are not allowed. We want to know that proper security protocols were followed by prison staff.”
Atteridgeville Correctional Centre is regarded as relaxed, with facilities including ensuite bathrooms for prisoners with special needs.
“If Oscar Pistorius is found to be at fault, he could lose his privileges and be re-classified if he is no longer considered ‘low risk’,” said Nxumalo.
If re-classified, Pistorius could face a return to the maximum security prison Kgosi Mampuru II where he served his first year.
South African Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius appears at the Magistrate Court in Pretoria on Aug. 19, 2013. (Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images)Last month, Pistorius had his sentence increased to 13 years in a successful appeal by prosecutors. He was originally cleared of murder but had that judgment overruled in two subsequent appeals.
The original sentence of six years from Judge Thokozile Masipa was also criticized by the appeal court. It was “shockingly lenient to the point where it has the effect of trivializing this serious offence,” said Judge Seriti in the appeal.
In 2013 Pistorius murdered his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.
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