After months of trial, South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius,
has been sentenced to five years in jail for killing his
girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The sentence was for culpable homicide which Pistorius
was found guilty of.
The defence called for a house arrest and community
service, while the state prosecutor asked the court to
impose a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, Tuesday, said any sentence would
need to demonstrate a balance between the crime, the
criminal and the effect on the society.
She acknowledged that while Pistorius had shown remorse,
a very light sentence may send the wrong message to the
society, and encourage people aggrieved in the future to
take the law into their hands.
“Yes the accused is vulnerable but he also has excellent
coping skills. He excelled as a top athlete against big odds
even going on to compete against able-bodied people,” the
judge said.
Pistorius was also found guilty of negligently handling a
firearm that went off in a restaurant in a separate
incident.
The judge imposed a three years of fully suspended
sentence for that offence.
Steenkamp was shot dead by Pistorius at his Pretoria home
on the eve of the 2013 Valentine’s Day. The athlete
maintains the shooting was in error as he mistook
Steenkamp for an intruder.
The deceased was a 29-year-old law school graduate who
turned to modelling before her death.
The state accused Pistorius of lying and pressed for his
conviction for murder.
In her earlier ruling, Judge Masipa said there was no
evidence supporting premeditated murder, but said
Pistorius acted “negligently” when he fired shots through a
toilet door in the “belief that there was an intruder”.
Culpable homicide means there was no intention to kill a
person, but the actions were negligent.
The paralympian was escorted past a crowd of reporters
into the court in South Africa by armed police.

thank God for justice... at a point i almost thought they would let him go freely.....

5years is small but hopefully the guy will learn

Are u kidding me


Just 5yrs? Tell me something

Its because it's a white to white crime. If na black man kill white woman dem for give am life sentence or even death.

What a shame

After taking another's life!!! I bet if the dude were black, he'ld have being sentenced to life inprisonment

Injustice

If you ask me, the sentence was fair and reasonable...cudos to judge thokozile masipa...because she was very patient and reasonable in explaining the sentence.
While we may think 5 years is small, let's be reminded that the prosecuting party were not thorough....The defence did a pretty good job and we hope this does nt stink further into an appeal....

B