Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at their home in 2013.
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But Judge Masipa said she had carefully considered the circumstances around Reeva Steenkamp’s death and her sentence needed to be fair to both Pistorius and the family of the deceased. “He has lost his career, and he is ruined financially”, said Masipa, who originally convicted Pistorius of manslaughter.
Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison, saying says the mitigating factors outweigh aggravating ones, which justify deviating from the minimum sentence of 15 years for murder. However, the judge stated that he did not feel Pistorius would reoffend, and the former “Blade Runner” will actually be up for parole in three years.
Pistorius’ conviction was upgraded to murder a year ago when prosecutors appealed to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal.
Pistorius – who was born without calf bones – had his legs amputated below the knee when he was just 11 months old so he could be fitted with prosthetic legs.
“We respect the decision of Judge Masipa and are not lodging an application for leave to appeal”.
Pistorius admitted to murdering her, but claimed he did so only because he mistook her for an intruder and believed he was acting in self-defense. He cannot be at peace, she added.
Nel also criticised Pistorius for filming a recent television interview, despite claiming to be too unwell to give evidence in court.
The track star, who had the lower part of his legs amputated when he was a baby, was freed from prison last October after nearly a year behind bars.
Besides winning gold at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, the determined athlete once banned, appealed to participate and was the first amputee to compete in track and field at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, giving his fully-abled peers a run for their money. Pistorius steadfastly denies any intention to kill Steenkamp.
He’ll now return to South Africa’s notorious Pretoria Central Prison, which is crawling with South Africa’s most violent criminals and is rife with gang fights and rape.
On Valentine’s Day 2013, Pistorius fired four times through a bathroom door, hitting Steenkamp, three times.
He said the sentence is too light because Pistorius was sentenced to nearly the same sentence – five years – for his earlier manslaughter conviction.
Some have expressed sympathy for the Steenkamp family.
“It’s an insult to the women of South Africa”, Jacqui Mofokeng, spokeswoman of the ruling ANC party’s women’s league, told AFP outside the court.
Outside the courthouse, Dukes Masanabo, a South African sports official, told the AP he felt the sentence was too light.
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“It’s not enough”, she said.
