Pistorius leaves jail on Friday to begin house arrest

Oscar Pistorius is preparing to start the second phase of his jail term — house arrest — when he is released from prison on Friday.

Pistorius, nicknamed the ‘Blade Runner’, will be released from jail on Friday after serving the 10 months of a five-year sentence for killing his model and law graduate girl friend, Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s day in 2013.

The 29-year-old Paralympiac gold medalist is expected to wear expected to wear an electronic tracking tag when he is released.

The release of Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, is in line with South African sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars.

Pistorius is due to serve the rest of his term in "custodial supervision", a form of house arrest and it will be in one of the wealthiest suburbs of South Africa's capital Pretoria, a athree-storey mansion.

He will be mostly confined to the home of his uncle, Arnold, in the high-walled manor in the leafy suburb of Waterkloof that features more than a dozen bedrooms, a private gym, outdoor swimming pool and landscaped gardens.

The Blade Runner will likely be allowed to leave the house to work, carry out community service or to attend important family events.