By . Leon Watson . The brother of . Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius is facing charges over the death of a . woman in a car crash in 2010, it emerged today. Carl Pistorius, who was present in court over the past week to support . Oscar, is charged with culpable homicide over the alleged accidental . death of a female motorcyclist. He appeared in court just two days before his brother's bail hearing last week and was represented by the same lawyer as his brother, the highly-respected advocate Kenny Oldwage. The crash allegedly happened in Vanderbijlpark in South Africa's Gauteng province, an hour's drive south of Johannesburg. It also emerged today that police told Reeva's family that Oscar Pistorius crushed his girlfriend’s skull with a cricket bat before shooting her dead. Scroll down for video . Charged: Carl Pistorius, brother of Olympian athlete, Oscar Pistorius, arrives at home today . Charged: Carl Pistorius, with sister Aimee, in court to see their brother Oscar granted bail after being charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp . Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is at home after being granted bail following a gruelling four-day hearing . Carl was initially accused of reckless or negligent driving, but the matter was later provisionally withdrawn. However, the charges were reinstated after the victim's family said they believed it was more than an accident, Eye Witness News reported. It is claimed police conducted tests on Carl Pistorius' blood at the time . of the accident, and he was found not to have been drinking alcohol. In Britain the equivalent charge to . culpable homicide is manslaughter. Carl Pistorius' trial is set to begin . at the end of March. The brothers' lawyer Mr Oldwage successfully defended Sizwe Mankazana, who was charged with culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol after he lost control of his vehicle, killing Nelson Mandela's 13-year-old great-grandchild Zenani in 2010. It has also emerged that the athlete sported a mysterious black eye in a video filmed a month ago for a charity campaign. The Paralympian lent his support to a South African ­campaign for gay and lesbian youth. But charity bosses were surprised when he turned up for filming with a black eye. In the video message recorded to raise awareness for the It Gets Better campaign in South Africa, Oscar instructed young people who were being bullied about their sexuality to 'not retaliate'. Oscar Pistorius claims he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead by accident believing her to be an intruder at his home . An It Gets Better charity source told . the Sunday Mirror: 'Oscar turned up on the day of filming with a very . angry ­looking black eye. 'Oscar . was keen for the filming to still go ahead and didn’t seem to mind too . much. Although eyebrows were raised, Oscar wasn’t forthcoming on how he . managed to get the injury.' Oscar Pistorius, meanwhile, spent Saturday at his uncle's home in an . affluent suburb of Pretoria, the South African capital, after a  judge released him on bail  on Friday. While on bail, he is expected to take delivery of a £200,000 supercar. He ordered the 204mph 3.8-liter McLaren MP4-12C Spider last month as a treat to reward himself for a successful year, The Sun reported today. Oscar Pistorius 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 her accidentally. He . says he opened fire after mistaking Miss Steenkamp for an intruder in . his home. Details of the post-mortem examination of South African model Steenkamp were withheld from last week’s bail application hearing. But grieving relatives who saw her body before Tuesday’s cremation in Port Elizabeth described horrific injuries from the cricket bat, and entry wounds from 9mm bullets fired by Pistorius. They were also briefed about the model’s death by police and lawyers from the state prosecutor’s office. In a sworn affidavit read to the bail hearing in Pretoria magistrates’ court last week, Pistorius claimed that he used the bat to break down the toilet door after the shooting, saying he had not realised his girlfriend was in  the bathroom. The bloodstained bat, which is currently being examined by a police forensics team, will be key evidence when Pistorius goes on trial for premeditated murder. The ‘Blade Runner’ – who has previously boasted about having a cricket bat, pistol and machine gun at home to defend himself against intruders – claims the bat became blood-spattered at the scene. Last week the prosecution did not mention any details about the bat and the role they believe it played in Reeva’s death, opting not to disclose their case against Pistorius. But to secure bail, Pistorius’s legal team had to detail his defence, which included why he had a blood-spattered cricket bat in his possession on the fatal night. Lawyer Kenny Oldwage and Carl Pistorius, brother of Oscar Pistorius arrive at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria. It has emerged Mr Oldwage is representing both brothers . Carl Pistorius appeared in court just two days before his brother's bail hearing last week . Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl and his father Henke look more positive at the end of the third day of the runner's murder bail hearing . Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl tries to avoid the media flurry outside Pretoria Magistrates' Court . The athlete claims that during the . night he heard a noise in the bathroom and feared it was an intruder. Pistorius, 26, said he felt ‘vulnerable’ without his prosthetic legs, so . he got a gun from under his bed and fired through the bathroom door, . shouting at the ‘intruder’ to get out of the house and for Reeva to call . the police. At that point Pistorius thought she was still in bed. Pistorius . described his ‘horror and fear’ as he realised Reeva was not in the . bed, and said he used the bat to break down the toilet door to find . Reeva slumped inside the cubicle. He said he called paramedics and then carried Reeva, 29, downstairs, trying to revive her, but she died in his arms. The Observer reported today that the uncle of Pistorius, Arnold Pistorius, has said the star will try to make contact with Reeva's grieving family. 'We don't want to put him under pressure but while we were in the car, that is what he said,' Arnold told eNews Channel Africa. 'The family of Reeva is in his mind all the time and he knows his purpose would be to be part of the family in future.' A message purporting to be from 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius to his fans thanking them for their support was a fake, the Olympian's family said tonight. The athlete, released on bail yesterday after being charged with premeditated murder over the Valentine's Day death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has not issued any public comments. It was thought that a message on his elder brother Carl's Twitter account was penned by the double amputee, but a spokeswoman later said this was not the case and that the account had been hacked. The message, thanking 'every person that has prayed for both families' and signed by 'Osca' was posted using the @carlpistorius handle. Pistorius family spokeswoman Janine Hills said: 'Carl did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva. We are busy cancelling all the social media sites for both Oscar's brother and his sister.' As of this evening, Carl Pistorius's Twitter account had been taken down while those belonging to his brother and sister Aimee remained. Yesterday, . Reeva’s father Barry Steenkamp said that the athlete would have to . ‘live with his  conscience’ if he is lying about how he killed her. He told Afrikaans-language newspaper . Beeld: ‘It doesn’t matter how much money he has and how good his team of . lawyers is, he must be able to live with his conscience if he allows . his team of lawyers to lie on his behalf. ‘He will have to live with his . conscience. But if he speaks the truth, I can perhaps someday forgive . him. If it does not happen as he tells it, he must suffer.’ In . another interview, Reeva’s mother June said: ‘Everything  has been . taken away from me in such a terrible way. The only thing that matters . now is the truth.’ Pistorius’s family believe him  to be . innocent, with his father Henke saying he had ‘zero doubt’ that Reeva’s . death was a tragic accident. In an earlier interview, Henke said: ‘When . you are a sportsman, you act even more  on instinct. It’s instinct, things happen and that’s what you do. ‘When you wake up in the middle of the night, and crime is so endemic in South Africa, what do you do if somebody is in the house? Do you think it’s one of your  family? No, of course you don’t.’ In a statement yesterday Pistorius’s family said: ‘Oscar will never be the same ...  having to live with the knowledge he caused the death of the woman he loved, and that he can never undo the immense pain and loss this has caused Reeva’s family and friends.’ Having been released from bail after the gruelling four-day hearing, Pistorius was yesterday spending the day with his family at a secret address in Pretoria provided by his legal team. His uncle Arnold Pistorius said: ‘We are convinced Oscar’s version of what happened that terrible night will prove to be true.’ Today, if his athletics coach Ampie Louw has his way, Pistorius could be back in training at the track at the University of Pretoria. He was last there earlier this month with Reeva, who watched admiringly as he was put through his paces. Friends have spoken of the need for a suicide watch on the sportsman as he spends the next four months preparing for his court appearance on June 4. Meanwhile, South Africa’s top detective Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo is taking over the role of chief investigator in the case, after Hilton Botha stepped down from the post. Detective Botha resigned after seven charges of attempted murder against him were reinstated. He and three other officers shot at a minibus of escaping murder suspects in 2009. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Carl Pistorius, who was in court to support Oscar, charged with homicide .
It is over the alleged accidental death of a female motorcyclist .
He appeared in court just two days before his brother's bail hearing .
Both brothers are represented by the same lawyer, Kenny Oldwage .
The trial of Carl Pistorius is set to begin at the end of March .
By . Leon Watson . The brother of . Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius is facing charges over the death of a . woman in a car crash in 2010, it emerged today. Carl Pistorius, who was present in court over the past week to support . Oscar, is charged with culpable homicide over the alleged accidental . death of a female motorcyclist. He appeared in court just two days before his brother's bail hearing last week and was represented by the same lawyer as his brother, the highly-respected advocate Kenny Oldwage. The crash allegedly happened in Vanderbijlpark in South Africa's Gauteng province, an hour's drive south of Johannesburg. It also emerged today that police told Reeva's family that Oscar Pistorius crushed his girlfriend’s skull with a cricket bat before shooting her dead. Scroll down for video . Charged: Carl Pistorius, brother of Olympian athlete, Oscar Pistorius, arrives at home today . Charged: Carl Pistorius, with sister Aimee, in court to see their brother Oscar granted bail after being charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp . Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is at home after being granted bail following a gruelling four-day hearing . Carl was initially accused of reckless or negligent driving, but the matter was later provisionally withdrawn. However, the charges were reinstated after the victim's family said they believed it was more than an accident, Eye Witness News reported. It is claimed police conducted tests on Carl Pistorius' blood at the time . of the accident, and he was found not to have been drinking alcohol. In Britain the equivalent charge to . culpable homicide is manslaughter. Carl Pistorius' trial is set to begin . at the end of March. The brothers' lawyer Mr Oldwage successfully defended Sizwe Mankazana, who was charged with culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol after he lost control of his vehicle, killing Nelson Mandela's 13-year-old great-grandchild Zenani in 2010. It has also emerged that the athlete sported a mysterious black eye in a video filmed a month ago for a charity campaign. The Paralympian lent his support to a South African ­campaign for gay and lesbian youth. But charity bosses were surprised when he turned up for filming with a black eye. In the video message recorded to raise awareness for the It Gets Better campaign in South Africa, Oscar instructed young people who were being bullied about their sexuality to 'not retaliate'. Oscar Pistorius claims he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead by accident believing her to be an intruder at his home . An It Gets Better charity source told . the Sunday Mirror: 'Oscar turned up on the day of filming with a very . angry ­looking black eye. 'Oscar . was keen for the filming to still go ahead and didn’t seem to mind too . much. Although eyebrows were raised, Oscar wasn’t forthcoming on how he . managed to get the injury.' Oscar Pistorius, meanwhile, spent Saturday at his uncle's home in an . affluent suburb of Pretoria, the South African capital, after a  judge released him on bail  on Friday. While on bail, he is expected to take delivery of a £200,000 supercar. He ordered the 204mph 3.8-liter McLaren MP4-12C Spider last month as a treat to reward himself for a successful year, The Sun reported today. Oscar Pistorius 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 her accidentally. He . says he opened fire after mistaking Miss Steenkamp for an intruder in . his home. Details of the post-mortem examination of South African model Steenkamp were withheld from last week’s bail application hearing. But grieving relatives who saw her body before Tuesday’s cremation in Port Elizabeth described horrific injuries from the cricket bat, and entry wounds from 9mm bullets fired by Pistorius. They were also briefed about the model’s death by police and lawyers from the state prosecutor’s office. In a sworn affidavit read to the bail hearing in Pretoria magistrates’ court last week, Pistorius claimed that he used the bat to break down the toilet door after the shooting, saying he had not realised his girlfriend was in  the bathroom. The bloodstained bat, which is currently being examined by a police forensics team, will be key evidence when Pistorius goes on trial for premeditated murder. The ‘Blade Runner’ – who has previously boasted about having a cricket bat, pistol and machine gun at home to defend himself against intruders – claims the bat became blood-spattered at the scene. Last week the prosecution did not mention any details about the bat and the role they believe it played in Reeva’s death, opting not to disclose their case against Pistorius. But to secure bail, Pistorius’s legal team had to detail his defence, which included why he had a blood-spattered cricket bat in his possession on the fatal night. Lawyer Kenny Oldwage and Carl Pistorius, brother of Oscar Pistorius arrive at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria. It has emerged Mr Oldwage is representing both brothers . Carl Pistorius appeared in court just two days before his brother's bail hearing last week . Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl and his father Henke look more positive at the end of the third day of the runner's murder bail hearing . Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl tries to avoid the media flurry outside Pretoria Magistrates' Court . The athlete claims that during the . night he heard a noise in the bathroom and feared it was an intruder. Pistorius, 26, said he felt ‘vulnerable’ without his prosthetic legs, so . he got a gun from under his bed and fired through the bathroom door, . shouting at the ‘intruder’ to get out of the house and for Reeva to call . the police. At that point Pistorius thought she was still in bed. Pistorius . described his ‘horror and fear’ as he realised Reeva was not in the . bed, and said he used the bat to break down the toilet door to find . Reeva slumped inside the cubicle. He said he called paramedics and then carried Reeva, 29, downstairs, trying to revive her, but she died in his arms. The Observer reported today that the uncle of Pistorius, Arnold Pistorius, has said the star will try to make contact with Reeva's grieving family. 'We don't want to put him under pressure but while we were in the car, that is what he said,' Arnold told eNews Channel Africa. 'The family of Reeva is in his mind all the time and he knows his purpose would be to be part of the family in future.' A message purporting to be from 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius to his fans thanking them for their support was a fake, the Olympian's family said tonight. The athlete, released on bail yesterday after being charged with premeditated murder over the Valentine's Day death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has not issued any public comments. It was thought that a message on his elder brother Carl's Twitter account was penned by the double amputee, but a spokeswoman later said this was not the case and that the account had been hacked. The message, thanking 'every person that has prayed for both families' and signed by 'Osca' was posted using the @carlpistorius handle. Pistorius family spokeswoman Janine Hills said: 'Carl did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva. We are busy cancelling all the social media sites for both Oscar's brother and his sister.' As of this evening, Carl Pistorius's Twitter account had been taken down while those belonging to his brother and sister Aimee remained. Yesterday, . Reeva’s father Barry Steenkamp said that the athlete would have to . ‘live with his  conscience’ if he is lying about how he killed her. He told Afrikaans-language newspaper . Beeld: ‘It doesn’t matter how much money he has and how good his team of . lawyers is, he must be able to live with his conscience if he allows . his team of lawyers to lie on his behalf. ‘He will have to live with his . conscience. But if he speaks the truth, I can perhaps someday forgive . him. If it does not happen as he tells it, he must suffer.’ In . another interview, Reeva’s mother June said: ‘Everything  has been . taken away from me in such a terrible way. The only thing that matters . now is the truth.’ Pistorius’s family believe him  to be . innocent, with his father Henke saying he had ‘zero doubt’ that Reeva’s . death was a tragic accident. In an earlier interview, Henke said: ‘When . you are a sportsman, you act even more  on instinct. It’s instinct, things happen and that’s what you do. ‘When you wake up in the middle of the night, and crime is so endemic in South Africa, what do you do if somebody is in the house? Do you think it’s one of your  family? No, of course you don’t.’ In a statement yesterday Pistorius’s family said: ‘Oscar will never be the same ...  having to live with the knowledge he caused the death of the woman he loved, and that he can never undo the immense pain and loss this has caused Reeva’s family and friends.’ Having been released from bail after the gruelling four-day hearing, Pistorius was yesterday spending the day with his family at a secret address in Pretoria provided by his legal team. His uncle Arnold Pistorius said: ‘We are convinced Oscar’s version of what happened that terrible night will prove to be true.’ Today, if his athletics coach Ampie Louw has his way, Pistorius could be back in training at the track at the University of Pretoria. He was last there earlier this month with Reeva, who watched admiringly as he was put through his paces. Friends have spoken of the need for a suicide watch on the sportsman as he spends the next four months preparing for his court appearance on June 4. Meanwhile, South Africa’s top detective Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo is taking over the role of chief investigator in the case, after Hilton Botha stepped down from the post. Detective Botha resigned after seven charges of attempted murder against him were reinstated. He and three other officers shot at a minibus of escaping murder suspects in 2009. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
emerged today. Carl Pistorius, who was present in court over the past week to support . Oscar, is charged with culpable homicide over the alleged accidental . death of a female motorcyclist. He appeared in court just two days before his represented by the same lawyer as his brother, the highly-respected advocate Kenny Oldwage. The Pistorius' trial is set to begin . at the end of before his brother's bail hearing last week .