Oscar Pistorius gets 6 years in prison for girlfriend's murder

Convicted South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been handed a six-year jail term for murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Judge Thokozile Masipa handed down the new sentence at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday morning after the Supreme Court upgraded his initial culpable homicide verdict to murder.

Judge Masipa said there were “substantial and compelling reasons” to deviate from the 15-year minimum sentence for murder, citing as one factor the continuing misperception that Pistorius had intended to kill his girlfriend.

Serious crimes

She also considered the double-amputee offender’s condition, the offence, the influence of society and the victims of the offence.

“The interests of society demand that people who commit serious crimes such as murder, be punished severely,” said Judge Masipa.

She said the perception that Pistorius deliberately murdered Ms Steenkamp continues to exist, despite the unavailability of a shred of evidence.

Culpable homicide

She dismissed the state’s argument that the accused showed no remorse. She used the example of Pistorius trying repeatedly to meet with Mr Barry and Mrs June Steenkamp to apologise for killing their daughter.

Judge Masipa also took into consideration that the former athlete had already served one year in jail for culpable homicide.

Pistorius maintains that he shot and killed Ms Steenkamp under the impression that there was an intruder in his bathroom.

Go to prison

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel had argued that Pistorius should go to prison for no less than 15 years, while defence advocate Barry Roux suggested a non-custodial sentence.

Judge Masipa said the rehabilitation programmes may not be sufficient now that Pistorius’s conviction has been upgraded to murder, the judge says.

But she said it indicated that he was a “good candidate for rehabilitation”.