Justice for Reeva’s family as Pistorius jail term is doubled
THE FAMILY of the model murdered by Oscar Pistorius yesterday declared justice had now ‘been served’ as his jail sentence was more than doubled.
Reeva Steenkamp’s parents said the term of 13 years and five months would finally let them get on with their lives.
Gold medal-winning Olympic sprinter Pistorius, 31, known as the Blade Runner due to his carbon-fibre prosthetics, was found guilty of murder last year and given six years – described by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal as ‘shockingly lenient’.
After the hearing, Miss Steenkamp’s father, Barry, 74, said: ‘I always, from the beginning, said justice had not been served. Now it has.’ Her mother June added: ‘We felt we didn’t have justice for Reeva by that too-lenient sentence. But now we have justice for her.’ But Pistorius’s older brother Carl tweeted: ‘Shattered. Heartbroken. Gutted. We have all suffered incomprehensible loss. The death of Reeva was and still is a great loss to our family too.’
The longer sentence – the minimum 15year term for murder minus time already served – was the latest twist in the courtroom drama that generated worldwide interest after the double amputee killed unarmed Miss Steenkamp, 29, at his Pretorian home on Valentine’s Day, 2013.
Pistorius, who was not in court at Bloemfontein yesterday, fired four shots through a locked toilet door, claiming he thought she was a burglar. A five- year sentence for manslaughter was handed down in 2014 by trial judge Thokozile Masipa.
But prosecutors successfully challenged the decision and secured a conviction for murder at the supreme court in December 2015, with Judge Masipa
‘Six-year term was shockingly lenient’
extending the sentence to six years last summer.
Pressure groups in South Africa bitterly complained the athlete had received preferential treatment.
The appeals court yesterday said Judge Masipa had ‘erred in deviating’ from sentencing guidelines.
‘ The sentence of six years’ imprisonment is shockingly lenient, to a point where it has the effect of trivialising this serious offence,’ said Judge Willie Seriti, who read the decision.
Chief prosecutor Andrea Johnson had argued there had been no mitigating circumstances to justify the previous lighter jail term.
Barry Roux, defending the fallen track star, argued the appeal should be dismissed because his client did not kill law graduate Miss Steenkamp deliberately. The six-time Paralympic gold medallist made history as the first amputee sprinter at the Olympics, during London 2012, despite concerns then that his artificial limbs gave him an unfair advantage.