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Oscar Pistorius jailed 5 years for killing Reeva Steenkamp

PRETORIA — A South African judge today (Oct 21) sentenced Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison for the negligent killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.

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PRETORIA — A South African judge today (Oct 21) sentenced Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison for the negligent killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.

At the culmination of one of the most watched murder trials in recent history, the 27-year-old disabled sprinter was led away by police officers to holding cells beneath the courtroom in Pretoria.

Pistorius wiped his eyes as Judge Thokozile Masipa handed down the prison sentence for culpable homicide.

Judge Masipa — only the second black woman to rise to South Africa’s bench — said the sentence had to be “fair and just to society and to the accused”.

Oscar Pistorius’ family “accepts” the five-year jail sentence handed down by the Pretoria High Court for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend, his uncle Arnold Pistorius said. “Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society,” he said in a brief statement to reporters before asking for the media to respect his family’s privacy.

“Justice was served,” said Dup De Bruyn, the lawyer for the Steenkamp family. He told reporters the judge had given “the right sentence”.

Pistorius’ defence lawyer Barry Roux said he expected the jailed athlete to serve only 10 months of the five-year sentence behind bars, and the remainder under house arrest.

However, South Africa’s state prosecuting authority disputed this opinion, saying Pistorius was likely to serve at least a third of his sentence in prison - effectively 20 months.

The state prosecuting authority has not yet decided whether to appeal against Oscar Pistorius’ conviction for culpable homicide, spokesman Nathi Mncube said.

“We have not made up our minds whether we’re going to appeal it or not,” he said. He added that there was an “appetite” to appeal but that prosecutors have 14 days to review their options. “We are satisfied with the fact that he will be serving some time in prison,” he said.

On a separate firearms charge for which Pistorius was also found guilty, Judge Masipa gave him a three-year suspended sentence.

Judge Masipa delivered the ruling after reviewing prosecution arguments for a tough sentence as well as the defence case for a more lenient punishment for the double-amputee Olympic runner. Judge Masipa convicted him of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, last month, but acquitted him of murder.

Steenkamp was killed almost instantly when Pistorius fired four shots through a bathroom door at his luxury Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year, having mistaken her for an intruder.

Earlier today, Pistorius was escorted by armed police as he entered the Pretoria High Court. Dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and black tie, the stony-faced 27-year-old stared straight ahead as he made his way through the melee. He made no comment to reporters before hugging his lawyer, Barry Roux, inside the courtroom.

Pistorius’ uncle, Arnold, who has been the family patriarch throughout a 7-month trial that has made legal history as the first to be broadcast live throughout, struck a calm, assured tone.

“I never get nervous,” he told reporters.

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel said at the sentencing hearing last week that 10 years’ imprisonment was necessary to satisfy a public that could lose their faith in the justice system if Pistorius received a non-custodial sentence.

Pistorius’ lawyers have argued for a three-year period of correctional supervision, where the runner would spend periods under house arrest and also perform community service.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux argued the double-amputee sprinter should be given community service because his sorrow and regret at killing the woman he loved was the worst punishment of all. He also said Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a baby, would face particular difficulties in prison.

The parents of Reeva Steenkamp were also in court to hear the sentence. The courtroom was packed, reflecting heightened media and public interest ahead of the sentencing. Police officers stood guard in the aisles.

Before proceedings started, Dr Lore Hartzenberg, a psychologist, held Pistorius’ hand and spoke softly to him. Dr Hartzenberg had testified for the defence that Pistorius was a “broken man” after killing his girlfriend and had suffered emotionally and financially.

The athlete, known as Blade Runner because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, became one of the biggest names in world athletics at the London 2012 Olympics when he reached the semifinals of the 400m against able-bodied athletes. AGENCIES

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