Pistorius gets 5 yrs in prison for murder of girlfriend
Pretoria, Oct. 21: South African star athlete Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, in the climax to his sensational trial watched around the world.
The Paralympian sprinter known as the “Blade Runner” was led from the dock down to the cells to start his sentence for shooting model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
“Count one, culpable homicide: the sentence imposed is five years,” Judge Thokozile Masipa told Pistorius in the Pretoria courtroom.
It was a stunning fall from grace for the 27- yearold who made history by becoming the first double amputee Paralympian to compete against able- bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics, inspiring millions.
But during his trial, the prosecution painted a darker picture of the sports star, presenting a dangerously volatile young man with a penchant for guns, beautiful women and fast cars.
Lawyers said however that Pistorius will probably not serve the full term for the offence of culpable homicide, equivalent to manslaughter, and perhaps as little as 10 months.
Pistorius, who had wept and vomited at times during his trial, stood stockstill as he was sentenced, veins bulging in his forehead and his jaw muscles clenched.
He was also sentenced to three years, suspended for five years, for accidentally firing a pistol under a table at a restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013.
Pistorius had testified that he shot Steenkamp, 29, four times through a locked bathroom door at his upmarket Pretoria home after he mistakenly believed she was an intruder. Prosecutors had argued that he murdered her in a fit of rage after an argument.
As the court adjourned, Pistorius turned to look at the public gallery, then briefly took the hands of his family members before being led by police to the cells. Amid a media frenzy, he was later taken to a police van which was escorted to Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru prison.
“He is already accommodated at Kgosi Mmapuru, in Pretoria,” said correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela.
Steenkamp’s family welcomed the sentence, the dramatic end to a trial televised globally that began in March but was repeatedly adjourned.