Prosecutors to appeal Pistorius’ ‘lenient’ sentence

The South African prosecutor’s office says it plans to appeal Oscar Pistorius’ six-year jail sentence for murder, arguing it is “shockingly” lenient.

South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in jail earlier this month for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three years ago.

The sentence was reduced from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years. Judge Thokozile Masipa cited mitigating circumstances such as his remorse, the time he spent in jail for his original sentence, and the fact that he was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time of the crime in reducing the sentence.

During the trial, Pistorius claimed he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot four times through a locked bathroom door, killing her, on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Prosecutors argued he meant to kill Steenkamp.