Oscar Pistorius sentenced to six years in prison

6 July 2016

Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Oscar Pistorius

The 29-year-old Paralympic athlete was sent to jail on Wednesday (06.07.16) for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who he shot four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013.

Oscar could have faced a minimum 15 years behind bars but Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that a lengthy sentence for murder would not serve any justice.

In her hour-long judgement, the judge said evidence she heard convinced her the athlete was "not a violent person", was unlikely to reoffend and had showed remorse.

She added: "[Pistorius is] a fallen hero, who has lost his career, and been ruined financially. He cannot be at peace."

The Olympian was taken straight to prison and the instructing attorney for the defence, Andrew Fawcett, has confirmed they do not intend to appeal the decision.

He expects his client will have to serve "between half and two-thirds of the sentence" before he can apply for parole.

The parents of Steenkamp were present in the court when he was sentenced.

Pistorius was initially found guilty of culpable homicide and reckless endangerment by a South African court last year but was subsequently found guilty of murder after an initial five-year conviction for manslaughter, which was changed to murder last December on appeal.

Pistorius - who became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics in London in 2012 - admitted to shooting his partner on Valentine's Day, but pleaded that he thought the South African model was an intruder and so he pulled the trigger because he feared for his life.

The sprint-runner previously said he did not want to be charged with murder and would much prefer to face a longer sentence for manslaughter.

Ahead of his trial, he said: "At times I don't feel like I should have the right to live for taking someone else's life. What's difficult is dealing with the charge of murder. The day before we started the trial I sat with my lawyers and I said to them: 'I will spend 10 years in jail for taking Reeva's life, for culpable homicide, but I won't spend a day in jail for murdering anyone."