The trial may have been nine years ago but details are easy to remember. A man often in tears, a green sick bucket between his legs, pleading plaintively to “my lady”, the judge. And later, walking unsteadily around the courtroom on his stumps in a desperate bid for leniency during his sentencing hearing.
The Oscar Pistorius case was practically all South Africans could talk about – it was our equivalent of the OJ Simpson trial, a riveting drama playing out on live TV, showcasing the downfall of a once-elite athlete.
Then it was off to prison with him, the golden era of the Blade Runner well and truly over. Reeva Steenkamp, the beautiful woman he killed in a burst of bullets behind a toilet door, was gone forever and Oscar had to live with the consequences.