Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to a maximum of 5 years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
This sentencing comes a month after the paralympian, 27, was convicted of culpable homicide after a six-month trial in the High Court of South Africa, in the city of Pretoria.
Handing down the sentence, Justice Thokozile Masipa said: “The decision on sentencing is mine and mine alone.”
“The loss of life cannot be reversed. Hopefully the sentence today can provide closure for the family and all concerned” she said.
“Considering the degree of negligence – the house arrest sentence would not be appropriate.”
Pistorius looked shaken and upset as the sentence was announced.
“I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force,” Justice Masipa, who presided over the trial, said as she completed her two-day long judgement on September 12.
“In the circumstances, it is clear that his conduct was negligent… On the facts of this case I am not persuaded that a reasonable person with the accused’s disabilities in the same circumstances would have fired four shots into that small toilet cubicle,” she said.
The athlete was also found guilty last month on one count of firearms charges, in relation to a shooting at Tasha’s Restaurant. He was acquitted of murder and all other charges, including those relating to a now-infamous incident in which Pistorius was accused of shooting through a car’s sunroof.
Culpable homicide is defined under South African law as the “unlawful negligent killing of another human being”. It is similar to the charge of manslaughter under Australian law.
The maximum penalty for culpable homicide, which focuses on negligence rather than intent, is 15 years. There is no minimum penalty.
You can learn more about some of the key pieces of evidence in the Pistorius trial in this post.
The trial
The trial began on March 3, 2014 and heard 37 witnesses in total.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux painted the picture of a vulnerable athlete with a disability who fired the shots out of genuine fear for his life — and Pistorius was reduced to tears a number of times throughout the trial, at one point vomiting into a bucket.
His emotional reaction caused the court to be adjourned on multiple occasions.
The prosecution entered into evidence four negative text messages between Pistorius and Steenkamp, 29, extracted from the paralympian’s phone, using them to paint a picture of a possessive often abusive boyfriend who accused Ms Steenkamp of flirting with other men.
In messages just two weeks before her death, Steenkamp wrote: “I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and of how you will react to me.”
Multiple witnesses also reported they remember “blood-curdling screams” coming from the Pistorius home in the early hours of the morning on February 14, 2013.
During the trial, Pistorius went through a 30-day psychiatric evaluation, which ultimately concluded that Pistorius understood his actions on the night Steenkamp died.
[post_snippet id=324408]
Top Comments
Can not believe how many legal experts we seem to have here. And they are actually are also experts in Sth African law as well. i have been to Sth Africa and guns are an embedded part of the culture. Break and enter with violence is also prevalent and many people including police shoot first and ask questions later. Drove around Johborg with a middle aged women with an 45 auto in the glovebox and sawn off shotgun under the seat. Suggest you get a bit more information before making grand judgements from suburbia in Australia.
This is frustrating. 5 years with eligibility for house arrest after 10 months. Seems to be like the trial and sentencing took longer than the jail time he will get for choosing to kill whoever was in his toilet.
Reeva did not have to die.