Pistorius sentenced to 5 years
Print Edition
OSCAR Pistorius was taken away in a police van with barred windows yesterday to start serving a five-year prison sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Delivering her sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa cited the “gross negligence” the double-amputee Olympic runner showed when he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.
Pistorius was unemotional as he stood to hear his sentence. His prison term begins immediately and he was led down a flight of stairs and toward holding cells before leaving the South African courthouse in the armored vehicle.
He could be released after 10 months to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, legal experts said.
Steenkamp’s parents were in court to hear the sentence and the dead model’s mother, June, said justice had been done. A close friend of Steenkamp, Gina Myers, said: “I really don’t think any of us will heal anytime soon ... there will always be questions.”
Pistorius’ uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said: “Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society.” He appealed to reporters to give the family privacy after what he called “20 months of relentless public trial.”
He criticized state prosecutors for pursuing a premeditated charge against Pistorius, and said “they decided to inflict as much collateral damage as they could.”
Masipa said her sentence was a balancing act between retribution and clemency.
“I am of the view that a non-custodial sentence would send a wrong message to the community,” she said after summarizing parts of the case and explaining why she reached her decision. “On the other hand, a long sentence would not be appropriate either as it would lack the element of mercy.”
Last month, Masipa convicted Pistorius of culpable homicide, but acquitted him of murder.
Prosecution spokesman Nathi Mncube said his office was disappointed in the culpable homicide conviction and had not yet decided whether to appeal.
He said there was an “appetite” to appeal but that prosecutors would review their options.
“We are satisfied with the fact that he will be serving some time in prison,” Mncube said.
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