By Tiso Black Star Group Digital
The High Court in Pretoria was filled to capacity on Wednesday morning as Judge Thokozile Masipa started sentencing Paralympian and double-amputee Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In 2014‚ Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to a five-year prison term for killing Steenkamp on February 14 2013.
He was released into correctional supervision last year after spending close to one year in prison.
While Pistorius claimed he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder‚ the the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the culpable homicide conviction and replaced it with that of murder in December last year.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 prescribes a minimum sentence of 15 years for murder but a lesser sentence can be imposed if there are compelling circumstances to do so.
In sentencing arguments three weeks ago‚ counsel for Pistorius‚ Barry Roux SC‚ had asked the court to impose a sentence that will incorporate community service‚ while prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked the court to impose a 15-year jail sentence.
Court packed as Oscar sentencing begins
The High Court in Pretoria was filled to capacity on Wednesday morning as Judge Thokozile Masipa started sentencing Paralympian and double-amputee Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In 2014‚ Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to a five-year prison term for killing Steenkamp on February 14 2013.
He was released into correctional supervision last year after spending close to one year in prison.
While Pistorius claimed he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder‚ the the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the culpable homicide conviction and replaced it with that of murder in December last year.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 prescribes a minimum sentence of 15 years for murder but a lesser sentence can be imposed if there are compelling circumstances to do so.
In sentencing arguments three weeks ago‚ counsel for Pistorius‚ Barry Roux SC‚ had asked the court to impose a sentence that will incorporate community service‚ while prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked the court to impose a 15-year jail sentence.
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