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| South African court doubles Oscar Pistorius's prison sentence | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A South African appeal court has more than doubled the former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s prison sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. | |
| The supreme court of appeal (SCA) increased Pistorius’s sentence from six years in prison to 13 years and five months. | The supreme court of appeal (SCA) increased Pistorius’s sentence from six years in prison to 13 years and five months. |
| Pistorius killed Steenkamp by firing four bullets from a handgun through a closed toilet door in his luxury home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day 2013. He claimed he mistook her for a burglar. | |
| High court judge Thokozile Masipa initially sentenced Pistorius to five years for culpable homicide in 2014. The sentence was much lower than many had expected and was widely criticised. | High court judge Thokozile Masipa initially sentenced Pistorius to five years for culpable homicide in 2014. The sentence was much lower than many had expected and was widely criticised. |
| He served only 10 months of the five-year sentence in prison before being released and put under house arrest. | He served only 10 months of the five-year sentence in prison before being released and put under house arrest. |
| The state appealed against the culpable homicide conviction, and it was later replaced with murder by the SCA in 2016. Masipa handed down a six-year jail term in July 2016 – described as “shockingly lenient” by state prosecutors. | The state appealed against the culpable homicide conviction, and it was later replaced with murder by the SCA in 2016. Masipa handed down a six-year jail term in July 2016 – described as “shockingly lenient” by state prosecutors. |
| The athlete was not in court for Friday’s ruling, where the court handed down the minimum 15-year sentence prescribed for murder in South Africa, then subtracted the years Pistorius had already served in jail. | |