Sobbing Pistorius pleads for leniency
Print Edition
A sobbing Oscar Pistorius yesterday hobbled on his stumps across a courtroom to demonstrate his physical vulnerability to a judge who will decide next month how long he goes to prison for murder.
The double-amputee removed his prosthetic limbs at the request of his lawyer Barry Roux, who is pleading for leniency, but state prosecutors sought a minimum 15-year jail term for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp.
Wearing shorts, the Paralympic athlete held onto wooden benches for support as he walked unsteadily through the courtroom. He appeared in distress as a cushion was provided for him to rest on.
Pistorius, 29, shot his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.
He was convicted of culpable homicide in 2014 — the equivalent of manslaughter — before the appeal court upgraded his crime to murder earlier this year. His murder sentence will be handed down on July 6, judge Thokozile Masipa told the High Court in Pretoria.
In March, the Supreme Court of Appeal said Pistorius was guilty of murder, irrespective of whoever was behind the door when he opened fire with a pistol he kept under his bed.
The minimum jail term for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but Pistorius’s sentence may be reduced due to the year he has already spent in prison and mitigating factors.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
