Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail and to be released pending murder trial Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail and will be released ahead of his murder trial, after the judge determined the athlete was not a flight risk. OSCAR Pistorius has been granted bail and will be freed from custody pending his trial in the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair said it had not been established that Pistorius was a flight risk, nor had it been established the accused would be violent again. Judge Nair made the ruling after four days of arguments from prosecution and defence in Pistorius' bail hearing, and after spending about one hour and 45 minutes announcing his decision. "I come to the conclusion that the accused has made a case to be released on bail," Judge Nair said to cries of "yes!" from Pistorius's family and supporters. "The issue is not guilt, but where the interests of justice lie," Judge Nair said. The athlete was escorted to the holding area sobbing uncontrollably. He is expected to be released later on Friday. His arrest on February 14 shocked the world and gripped South Africa, where he is still considered a national hero after becoming the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius has since spent more than a week at a Pretoria police station charged with the premeditated Valentine's Day killing of Steenkamp, a model and law graduate. If found guilty he faces a possible life sentence. He denies the charge, saying that he shot 29-year-old Steenkamp repeatedly through a locked bathroom door in the dead of night by accident, having mistaken her for a burglar. Steenkamp was found by medics in the early hours of Thursday last week at Pistorius's luxury Pretoria home covered in bloodied towels, with bullet wounds to her head, elbow and hip. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Experts said the case would now be fast-tracked through the courts. "This is probably going to get priority and will probably take about six months to go to trial," said Stephen Tuson, a criminal law professor at the University of Witwatersrand. It's a high profile matter. It was not immediately clear where Pistorius would go, but he will not return to the Pretoria estate where Steenkamp was killed. "He doesn't want to go back to the house," said Mr Roux. EARLIER: The prosecution case had wrapped up, prosecutor Gerrie Nel focusing on Pistorius's affidavit testimony as to what happened the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed. He said the accused athlete should take the stand to testify personally. On the accusation that the alleged murder was premeditated, the prosecutor said: "I'm not saying the murder of Reeva Steenkamp was planned days in advance, or weeks in advance." He also repeated the prosecution stance that Pistorius should not get bail because he is a flight risk and has likened the case to that of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual assaults but has claimed political asylum at an embassy in London. Mr Nel said Assange has skipped bail. "He (Pistorius) hasn't said so, but he must think that conviction is likely," Mr Nel said. Mr Nel said Pistorius "has the international status to be accommodated elsewhere." But Magistrate Desmond Nair seemed sceptical over the argument that Pistorius would be a flight risk: Would he be "ducking and diving every day? He told the court his task in this case was "unenviable." Prosecutors said the shooting happened after the couple got into an argument and allege the killing was deliberate. Grim-faced and occasionally wiping away tears, his father Henke, older brother Carl and younger sister Aimee have occupied the same three seats in the front row of the court house each day. His tweet followed claims by Mr Nel, for the prosecution, that Oscar Pistorius remains a flight risk. Earlier, as Mr Nel summed up the prosecution's case opposing bail, Oscar Pistorius began to weep in the crowded courtroom, leading Carl to reach out and touch his back.