Gory photo of Reeva Steenkamp’s bloodied head cut from BBC’s Oscar Pistorius documentary
A GORY photo of the bloodied head of Reeva Steenkamp featured in a controversial documentary will be edited out by the BBC this month.
The South African model and law graduate, 29, was shot dead by her boyfriend, Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, on Valentine's Day in 2013.
The four-part documentary The Trials of Oscar Pistorius uses extensive footage from his original 2014 trial in Pretoria, which was shown live on South African TV.
One graphic scene from the final episode shows a picture of the right side of Reeva’s head after being gunned down by Pistorius in the bathroom of his home.
The image accompanies a tense courtroom exchange where her shooting is compared to a bullet "exploding" a watermelon.
But it is understood the BBC will pixelate it when it airs the programme, first seen on ESPN Player.
The deputy director of public prosecutions involved in the case claims the Steenkamp family had been consulted and made aware the gory photo was being used in those court proceedings.
The BBC last week apologised for failing to mention Reeva in a trailer released online.
It has since been deleted from all platforms.
Filmmaker Daniel Gordon says “Reeva Steenkamp’s parents June and Barry were approached to appear in the documentary but declined". Gordon adds that he updated the parents on the progress of the doc and interviewed a member of the family.
She wrote: “Why would I want to place my voice alongside that of the man who murdered my daughter and has never truly expressed remorse?”
Pistorius, 33, had his jail sentence for killing Steenkamp increased in November 2017 by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal to 13 years and five months.
The documentary centres on the rise of Pistorius, whose feet were amputated as a toddler, to the top of the sporting world and London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Interviews with several family members and close friends paint a sympathetic portrait of Pistorius, who is eligible for parole in 2023.
Pistorius has always maintained the event was a tragic accident and he killed Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder hiding his bathroom.
Bill Schroder, Pistorius’s former headmaster, has visited the disgraced star in a Pretoria jail, saying he had grown a beard and taken up smoking.
Schroder said: “I didn’t mention it but I could smell it on him when we hugged, which is a pity.
“He sort of intimated he didn’t think he would ever run again. He kept saying to me: ‘I just want forgiveness.’
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“He’s desperate to get this feeling of forgiveness – but he will never get it I don’t think.
“I said: ‘The only forgiveness you will ever get is to forgive yourself.’”
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk