Pistorius jail term ‘too low’

Prosecutors tomorrow will argue for Oscar Pistorius to be given a longer jail sentence, saying the six years he is serving for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, is “shockingly low”.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will present its case in a one-day hearing at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. Judges are expected to hand down their ruling at a later date.

The disgraced Paralympic athlete, pictured, shot dead Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet – an act, he says, came from mistaking her for an intruder.

Pistorius was originally convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, but the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein upgraded his conviction to murder in 2015.

Pistorius, 30, who is being held at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison in Pretoria, will not be in court tomorrow.

“We believe the sentence is shockingly low,” NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said.

“The court has discretion to deviate from the minimum sentence for murder of 15 years, after considering the circumstances, but we say that you cannot go so far below.

“We cannot allow a situation where we create a precedent for a person sentenced for murder. It is inappropriate if you look at the gravity of the offence,” Mfaku said.

A spokesperson for the Pistorius family was not immediately available to comment, but his lawyers have previously said they accepted his current sentence.

At his sentencing last year, high court Judge Thokozile Masipa listed mitigating factors, including the athlete’s claim he believed he was shooting an intruder.

“He cannot be at peace. I’m of the view that a long term of imprisonment will not serve justice,” Masipa said.

But Steenkamp’s father, Barry, told the court that he wanted Pistorius to “pay for his crime”. –