The manslaughter conviction was overturned previous year by South Africa’s Supreme Court, which instead convicted Pistorius of murder, a much more serious charge. Judge Thokozile Masipa announced that Pistorius will serve a sentence of six years in prison. “I think all in all it is fair, given that Oscar Pistorius has already served 12 months”.
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Judge Masipa ordered a recess to give prosecutors and Pistorius’ defence lawyers time to decide if either wanted to appeal the sentence.
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Pistorius, 29, hugged his family before being taken out of the court in Pretoria to begin serving his term.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and budding reality TV star, early on Valentine’s Day in 2013, inside his home in a gated community in Pretoria.
Among other mitigating factors, the judge said she considered the circumstances of the shooting and Pistorius’ disability.
The former Olympic athlete had pretty much gotten away with murder when he was handed a five year sentence for culpable homicide in 2014, then transferred to house arrest last year.
“He’s a fallen hero – he has lost his career and he is ruined financially”, Masipa said.
Advocate Mannie Witz says Masipa weighed up all the facts.
Pistorius was taken from the courtroom to the cells shortly after the sentence.
“The family accepts the judgment”, a spokeswoman for the Pistorius family said outside the courthouse. She also observed that a court should not be swayed by public opinion but added that punishment must also reflect the seriousness of the offence.
He became the first amputee runner to compete in an Olympics at London 2012, making the semi-final of the 400metres. At the time, Steenkamp was in the bathroom, and Pistorius fired multiple shots through the bathroom door.
“There is a limited role in sentencing that is influenced by public opinion or greater public interest”, she said.
Now the runner’s new murder sentence is six years, with the potential that he could be free in three years.
She said that the athlete would have to serve a custodial sentence because his conviction had been upgraded from manslaughter to murder. In September of the same year, Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of homicide and was directed to start his 5-year sentence in prison by October.
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“It is an insult to women in this country”, Mofokeng said.
