Pretoria High Court judge Thokozile Masipa said in her ruling that Pistorius is not a violent person and had shown remorse and inclination to perform social work, reports Efe.
Advertisement
Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-amputee sprinter who shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison.
Even though the minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, Judge Masipa made a decision to go with a shorter sentence for Oscar because she believes he’s a “fallen hero” who is “genuinely remorseful” over the situation. “I am of the view that a long term in prison will not serve justice”, Masipa said.
Pistorius will be transferred to a prison in South Africa to begin serving his six-year sentence immediately.
Judge Masipa, who heard the original trial, cited this factor as main reason for deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence for murder.
Pistorius, famously known as the Blade Runner, was released on parole in October 2015 and has been placed under house arrest since then at his uncle’s house after serving nearly a year in prison of his five-year sentence.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but Judge Masipa had discretion to impose a shorter term.
Pistorius, 29, maintained he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, by mistake thinking she was an intruder hiding in the bathroom early on Valentine’s Day 2013. The accused has already served 12 months imprisonment.
December 3: The Supreme Court of Appeal convicts Pistorius of murder, saying his testimony was “vacillating and untruthful”. It wasn’t what Steenkamp’s family or the thousands of people who religiously followed the development of case expected. He had initially received a five-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in 2014, a ruling derided by women’s groups as too lenient.
Dressed in a dark suit, Pistorius listened to the judge sat, mostly with his head down. One thing she said was not relevant, though, was public opinion.
He became the first Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
Advertisement
“We let the law run its course, nothing will bring Reeva back”, the family’s lawyer Petrus de Bruyn told AFP afterwards.
