South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been given five years in jail for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

In court in Pretoria, Judge Thokozile Masipa also gave Pistorius a three-year suspended sentence for a firearms charge. Pistorius has now been taken to the cells.

Prosecutors had called for a minimum 10-year term, and the defence argued for community service and house arrest.

Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide but cleared of murder.



‘Feeling of unease’

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said his client was expected to serve 10 months in prison, with the rest under house arrest.

The BBC’s Andrew Harding, in court, says the parents of Reeva Steenkamp, Barry and June, tell him they are happy with the sentence and relieved the case is over.

Reacting to the sentence, Dup De Bruyn, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family, told Reuters that “justice was served”.

Judge Masipa had begun reading the sentence by saying that, although she had been aided by assessors, the decision was hers and hers alone.

She said: “Sentencing is about achieving the right balance. Sentencing is not a perfect exercise.”

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