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.
Finally it happens, so sad for the young man but then someone had to pay and he killed someone and he’s gonna pay for it. The law is the law and the law has spoken. He got a decent jail time he’s lucky he didn’t more. And that’s the latest on Danny world today.
DANNY WORLD 