Oscar Pistorius's trial was always going to be controversial, but here's something we never would have thought would happen: a online bet that's turned Reeva Steenkamp's murder into a fun game.
Paddy Power is running a ‘money back if he walks’ offer on anyone placing a bet with them about whether Oscar Pistorius - who is in court today - is not found guilty of killing his late girlfriend. Released to coincide with the beginning of the trial of world-famous double-amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius, who last year made international headlines after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the advert reads ‘It’s Oscar Time: Money Back if He Walks’ and features Pistorius’s face on an Academy Award statue in a bizarre and gross reference to yesterday’s ceremony. A change.org campaign calling for the advert to be removed has exploded on Twitter and has, so far, been signed by nearly 30,000 people.
Set up by Jean Hatchet, a British woman who describes herself as a survivor of domestic abuse, the petition argues: 'The brutal murder of a young woman is not "sport" or "entertainment" and promoting the opportunity to make money from it is a vile and offensive act which anyone with a sense of human dignity and respect for human life must reject.' It also reminds us of the stark statistics related to domestic abuse: '138 women died in the UK alone as a result of male violence in 2013. This type of random carelessness for the lives of women by Paddy Power is an affront to those women and their families.'
Paddy Power's bet is only adding to the media frenzy that is already surrounding the first day of the trail, which has shone a light on South Africa’s gun culture and political justice system. The trial, which has been compared to that of the OJ Simpson trial in America 20 years ago, is being televised in South Africa on a dedicated 24-hour channel called The Oscar Pistorius Trial – A Carte Blanche Channel. But beyond the Paddy Power scandal that’s beginning to erupt on our own shores, what else has been happening?
**Pistorius is pleading not guilty - no big surprises there
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Pistorius has always maintained that he accidentally shot his girlfriend after mistaking her for an intruder, so it should come as no surprise that, after a state prosecutor read out a charge that he 'unlawfully and intentionally did kill girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp', Pistorius responded 'not guilty, my lady'.
The trial started late after a ‘interpreter problems’
The trial itself started 90 minutes late after the language translator went to the wrong court. Afrikaans-English interpreter, who has been identified as Lizette Bosch, arrived at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court instead of the North Gauteng High Court. ‘Nobody told her it was here, we think,’ said a colleague of the blunder. Yeah, you think?
Neighbours are saying they could hear ‘bloodcurdling’ screams on the morning Reeva died
University lecturer Michell Burger explained to the court that she heard ‘bloodcurdling screams’ on the night Reeva Steenkamp died. Michell Burger lived on the neighbouring estate to the Silverwoods Estate in Pretoria where Pistorius had a home and described hearing a woman screaming followed by four gunshots in the early hours of the morning when the Paralympian shot his girlfriend. She told an interpreter in court how she ‘woke up from the screams. My husband jumped up and went to the balcony’ adding ‘it leaves you cold.’ She also heard a man screaming for help, explaining that ‘three times he yelled for help.’
**Pistorius is said to have ‘grinned’ as he left court **
The latest pictures from the courtroom seem to show Pistorius with a grin on his face as he left court.
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.