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BREAKING NEWS: Oscar Pistorius Sentenced To 5-Years Imprisonment

Published

10 years ago

October 21, 2014

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius who killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by Judge Thokozile Masipa.
The South African athlete was sentenced at Pretoria’s High Court was also given a 3-year suspended sentence for a firearms charge, CNN reports.
His sentence was imposed for the charge of culpable homicide, which in South Africa means a person was killed unintentionally, but unlawfully.
In her sentencing, Judge Masipa ruled a non-custodial sentence would send the wrong sentence to the community, but a long sentence would not be appropriate because it would appear to lack mercy.
The prosecution had sought a 10-year jail term, while the defense had requested that he be placed under house arrest for three years and perform community service.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux said his client was expected to serve 10 months in prison, and after that he will be sent home to serve the remainder of his sentence under strict supervision controls.
After the ruling on Tuesday, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said it has not yet decided whether to appeal Judge Thokozile Masipa’s verdict that Oscar Pistorius is not guilty of murder.
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp told the BBC they were happy with the sentence and relieved the case was over.
In September, Judge Masipa found Pistorius, guilty of culpable homicide and of several firearms offenses. But she acquitted him on more serious murder charges.
Oscar Pistorius is a South African sprint runner. Although both of his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, he competes in events for single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes.