Pistorius Brother To Stand Trial Over Death

The brother of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is facing charges over the death of a woman in a road crash in 2008.

Carl Pistorius, who was a constant presence in court over the past week to support his younger sibling Oscar, is charged with culpable homicide over the alleged accidental death of a female motorcyclist.

Lawyer Kenny Oldwage said in a statement from the family that "there is no doubt that Carl is innocent and the charge will be challenged in court."

"Blood tests conducted by the police at the time proved that he had not been under the influence of alcohol, confirming that it was a tragic road accident after the deceased collided with Carl's car," the statement said.

The family statement also said that the charges had at one stage been withdrawn but then reinstated.

Carl Pistorius was already in court last Thursday, as his brother Oscar was facing a bail hearing, and will appear again at the end of next month.

On Sunday morning, Carl Pistorius arrived at his uncle's house in an affluent suburb of the South African capital Pretoria. He declined to speak to the media outside the property.

Oscar Pistorius, 26, is staying at the luxury three-storey villa after a judge released him on bail on Friday.

He has been charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

But the athlete denies murder, saying he killed the 29-year-old model accidentally. He says he opened fire after mistaking Miss Steenkamp for an intruder in his home.

Both brothers are being represented by the same lawyer, Kenny Oldwage.

The Oscar Pistorius case took a dramatic turn last week when it was revealed the lead investigator, Hilton Botha, was facing charges of attempted murder himself.

Botha, who denies the charges, was questioned at the athlete's bail hearing, where he gave an often confused testimony.

But the day after he was questioned in court, a judge dropped him from the case because of the charges.

Prosecutors admitted that the timing of the attempted murder charges had been "totally weird".

On Saturday, the Pistorius family distanced themselves from a tweet on Carl's account thanking people for the support offered to both families.

A spokeswoman for the family said the account had been hacked. They said Pistorius' siblings would cancel their social media accounts.

It came as Miss Steenkamp's father spoke about the case, saying Oscar Pistorius will "suffer" alone if he is lying about how his daughter died.

"It doesn't matter how much money he has and how good his legal team is, he will have to live with his conscience if he allows his legal team to tell lies on his behalf," Barry Steenkamp told Beeld, an Afrikaans newspaper.

"But if he is telling the truth then maybe I can forgive him one day. If it didn't happen the way he said it did, he must suffer, and he will suffer... only he knows."

Her mother June said that the Pistorius family had sent a card and flowers offering condolences for the death of her daughter but she added it meant little because: "They are not to blame."