Commenting on the decision to send Pistorius to a hospital, Nxumalo, the correctional services official, referred to past reports of tension between the convicted murderer and a prison nurse who testified about alleged confrontations over medication and other issues while the runner was serving an earlier manslaughter sentence.
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Pistorius had sustained minor injuries to his wrists, Manelisi Wolela, a spokesman for South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services, told NBC News.
Oscar had suffered injuries in his wrist and was admitted to a hospital on Saturday.
Mr Nxumalo declined to identify the nature of the “contraband” found in the cell but confirmed that it had been confiscated.
“Oscar Pistorius denied speculations of a suicide attempt”, he said, according to the Sky Sports.
He says the former track star was taken back to his Pretoria prison cell on Saturday, and that an investigation is underway.
Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2014.
Carl Pistorius said he had visited his brother, who was “doing well given the circumstances”.
Wolela said as a policy principle they can not further discuss a particular offender’s personal condition in the public domain. City Press quoted a security guard as saying: “He had bad cuts on his wrists and the doctors kept wrapping bandages around them”.
The 29-year-old was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter, but was found guilty of murder on appeal last December.
A champion Paralympian athlete, with six gold medals to his name, he became the first double-amputee athlete to compete against able-bodied runners in the Olympics in 2012.
They want him to be jailed for at least 15 years, with the six-year term prompting fresh criticism in South Africa and across the world.
The final two shots from a 9mm pistol hit her in the head and she died in Pistorius’ arms.
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When Pistorius was taken to the court for the judgment, he said he was without his prosthetic legs and felt frightened and vulnerable when he heard the bathroom window opened that morning.
