Oscar Pistorius gets 6 years in jail for murder

PRETORIA: Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and observers immediately criticized the sentence as lenient.

South Africa has a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for murder unless an offender can show reasons why it should be reduced. Judge Thokozile Masipa said those “substantial and compelling circumstances” did exist in the case of the worldfamous runner, who shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet door in his home in 2013. Masipa called the double-amputee Olympian a “fallen hero.”

Pistorius will be eligible for parole after three years. Prosecutors can appeal for a heavier sentence.

One of Pistorius’ defense lawyers said they would not appeal the decision. “The family accepts the judgment,” Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for the Pistorius family, said outside the courtroom.

Prosecutors did not immediately say if they will challenge the sentence.

In deciding to deviate from the minimum of 15 years, Judge Masipa said Pistorius is a “good candidate for rehabilitation,” and is unlikely to reoffend.

Pistorius will be eligible for parole after serving half the sentence under new legislation in South Africa, legal expert Marius du Toit said.

“I think it’s lenient but not wrong,” Du Toit said of the sentence.

Pistorius was asked to stand and face Masipa as she announced his sentence in a wood-paneled courtroom in the South African capital, Pretoria. He was calm after the sentence was announced, embracing his aunt and tearful sister before being led down a courtroom staircase to a holding cell ahead of being taken to prison.

Later, a convoy of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing left a side entrance of the courthouse. In the convoy was a van with tinted windows; it was not clear whether Pistorius was inside.

Steenkamp’s parents, Barry and June, were also present in the courtroom, which was packed with relatives of both Pistorius and Steenkamp, journalists and other observers.

In delivering her sentence, Masipa referred to the difficulties she faced in deciding a sentence that “satisfies every relevant interest” in a case that captured the world’s attention and led to extremes of opinion.