Oscar Pistorius jail term for killing Reeva Steenkamp extended
November 24, 2017 02:02 pm
South African Supreme Court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius’s jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months.
Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was too short.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled his sentence be increased to 15 years, less time already served.
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.
The lower court had justified deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse.
He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter in 2014, but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.
Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.
Previously, the six-time Paralympic gold medallist had made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic “blades”.
-BBC-
-Agencies-
