PRETORIA // Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in jail on Wednesday for the murder of his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp.
The sentence is less than half of the recommended term for murder of 15 years and after pronouncing sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa explained her reasons for leniency on the man she described as “a fallen hero”.
“A long-term of imprisonment will not serve justice in this matter,” she said. “The accused has already served 12 months, he is a first offender and he is not likely to reoffend. He is a good candidate for rehabilitation.”
Pistorius, 29, dressed in a sober black jacket and tie with a white shirt, stared straight ahead in court during the televised proceedings. He showed little reaction as the judge read out her decision but afterwards embraced his family. His legal team immediately announced that he would not be appealing against the sentence. Pistorius was taken to Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria to begin his jail terms. He will serve at least half before he can be considered for parole.
Reeva’s parents, June and Barry Steenkamp sat on the other side of the packed courtroom.
The sentence came as a surprise to many legal experts who were expecting Pistorius to be sentenced to between 11 and 14 years. “She definitely erred on the side of caution with a lenient sentence, “ said Marius du Toit, a criminal defence lawyer.
The sentence also angered women’s rights campaigners. “We are very disappointed ... from five years that we fought against, and now it is six, what is that?” said Jacqui Mofokeng, spokeswoman of the ruling ANC party’s women league. “It’s an insult to the women of South Africa.” But the judge said he had shown remorse for the killing. “I find that there are compelling and exceptional circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence of 15 years,” said Ms Masipa.
Nicknamed the Blade Runner because of space-age prosthetic legs, the six-times gold medallist in the Paralympics killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day three years ago, claiming he thought she was an intruder. When he heard noises coming from their bathroom, he took the high-calibre pistol he kept under his bed and blasted the bathroom door four times.
At his trial in 2014 he pleaded not guilty to murder and was convicted of culpable homicide — the equivalent of manslaughter by Judge Masipa, the same judge who presided over his sentencing hearing. She originally gave him five years of which he served only one before being granted 10,000 rand bail and ordered to remain under house arrest at his uncle’s home.
But in December 2015, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal upgraded the conviction to murder, citing “errors of law” in the first verdict, ruling that Pistorius was guilty regardless of who he believed was behind the door and on March 3, the Constitutional Court denied Pistorius the right to appeal against the murder conviction.
The sentencing hearing last month provided several moments of high drama. Reeva’s father, Barry Steenkamp broke down in the witness box as he said he had found it impossible to forgive Pistorius and insisted the athlete had to pay for his crime.
A clinical psychologist told the court that Pistorius was now “a broken man” suffering from severe depression and needed to be in hospital, not prison. The athlete sobbed in the dock. He removed his prosthetic limbs and walked across the court on his stumps to illustrate his physical vulnerability. His defence team explored his childhood with a mother who had a deeply-entrenched fear of crime and died when Pistorius was a teenager.
In his testimony, Pistorius said he hoped to redeem himself through charitable works, adding that he believed Reeva would not have wanted him to “rot” in jail.
Pistorius was born without calf bones in both legs and his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. As the world’s first double amputee to compete at the Olympics he became a global celebrity.
His lawyer Andrew Fawcett said he expected Pistorius to serve between half and two-thirds of his sentence before he can apply for parole.
* Reuters
