article: Judges changed his conviction from manslaughter to murder last week. He has already served one year in prison. Pistorius now faces a minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment - to be set after a hearing on 18 April 2016. He will also appeal against his murder conviction in the Constitutional Court, his lawyer has said. This could see delays of many more months, says the BBC's Karen Allen at the high court in the South African capital, Pretoria. Now that Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail, it must have come as a huge relief that he will spend Christmas at home. Sitting in court, I was left with an impression that the judge was not interested in imposing strict conditions. Pistorius himself looked relaxed, chatting and laughing with his legal team during the brief adjournment while the judge was considering his fate. The double amputee's bail application also revealed that he had enrolled to study "a BSc business with law degree" at the London School of Economics. Pistorius indicated in court documents that he intended to lodge an appeal to the highest court in the land. This would be the very last legal avenue available for the disgraced athlete to overturn his conviction. Bail has been set at 10,000 rand ($700, Â£450). Pistorius was deemed not to be a flight risk by Judge Audrey Ledwaba. Pistorius can remain under house arrest at his uncle's home until sentencing next year, and will be electronically tagged. He also has to hand over his passport. He will be able to leave the house between 7am and midday, but will only be able to move within a 20km (12 miles) radius. He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail. In his bail affidavit, he said he had no income. During the hearing, his lawyer said he was only able to pay a sum of 10,000 rand for his bail. The 29-year-old killed Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day after shooting four times through a locked toilet door. Pistorius is a six-time Paralympic gold medallist whose legs were amputated below the knee as a baby. He made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012, running on prosthetic "blades". Last week, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein accepted prosecution arguments and ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the concept of "dolus eventualis" - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions. When will he be sentenced? The date set for the sentencing hearing has been set for 18 April. The minimum sentence for murder is 15 years, but the judge does have the discretion to lower it. Can he appeal? Yes, but only if his lawyers are convinced that the appeal judges violated his constitutional rights. So it is a high threshold, and hard to meet. Is this the end of Pistorius' professional athletics career? Almost certainly. He is 29, and will be past his prime by the time he is freed.
summary: South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail while he awaits sentence for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.