Oscar Pistorius gets six year sentence for murder

Published on 06/07/2016 - 10:36•Updated 09/12/2019 - 10:08

The South African athlete has been sentenced by a court in Pretoria for the murder of his girlfriend in 2013.

What is happening?

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Judge Thokozile Masipa told the court in Pretoria that aggravating and mitigating circumstances had been taken into account, leading her to pass a sentence much lower than the statutory term.

Oscar Pistorius to hear new sentence for murder in 2013 slaying of Reeva Steenkamp. https://t.co/JMDg1kqbuo geraldimrayAP</a></p>— AP Sports (AP_Sports) July 5, 2016

This time tomorrow, Pistorius could be back in prison https://t.co/nSSD4izQaf pic.twitter.com/RYt5IuMNV4
— The Independent (@Independent) July 5, 2016

News of the sentence has been met with shock and dismay by some, as it is much lower than the statutory minimum for murder.

In South Africa, that is normally fifteen years.

Both the prosecution and defence have the right to appeal the sentence.

The Pistorius defence team says they have no plans to do so.

There has been no comment so far from lawyers acting for the family of his victim, Reeva Steenkamp.

State prosecutors said Pistorius has shown no remorse and have called for him to receive no less than the minimum sentence.

But the judge disagreed, saying Pistorius had repeatedly tried to contact his girlfriend’s family to apologise.

Reeva Steenkamp

The Oscar Pistorius trial by numbers https://t.co/BP0mnmZwG8
— Telegraph News (@TelegraphNews) July 5, 2016

Reeva Steenkamp was the girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius.

She died after he shot her four times through a locked toilet door at his home in South Africa in February 2013.

Hasn’t there already been a court case?

Yes.

The state appealed against an earlier conviction for manslaughter. Pistorius served nine months of a five-year sentence.

The verdict was criticised as being too lenient by women’s groups.

It was upgraded to murder last December by the court of appeal in Pretoria.

Timeline

February 2013 – Shoots dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
March 2014 – trial begins
September 2014 – found guilty of culpable homicide
October 2014 – begins five-year sentence
October 2015 – transferred to house arrest
December 2015 – verdict changed to murder on appeal ### Can Pistorius appeal?

Yes.

Both the prosecution and the defence have the right to appeal the sentence.

Stumps and zombie stoppers – some of the dramatic moments of the Pistorius trial https://t.co/8KPcqpRmyG pic.twitter.com/ZczUwnZFgA
— Times LIVE (@TimesLIVE) July 6, 2016

During the hearing, his defence lawyers asked Pistorius to walk on his stumps to show the difficulty he faced when dealing with the threat of an intruder.

Pistorius’ lawyers argued that his physical disability and mental stress should be considered as mitigating circumstances when his sentence was being considered.