Oscar Pistorius’ murder sentence is doubled

Oscar Pistorius has today had his sentence for murdering his girlfriend more than doubled, after a court ruled that his previous punishment was too lenient.

A South African appeals court has increased the Paralympic athlete’s prison time from six years to 13 years and five months.

Pistorius, 31, shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

Closing time: Oscar Pistorius, pictured in 2016, has had his  jail sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp increased from six years to 13 years and 5 months

The shamed ‘Blade Runner’ now faces a return to a maximum security jail dominated by violent gangs, where he previously served a year in fear for his life.

Supreme Court of Appeal judges were ‘unanimous’ in sentencing Pistorius to South Africa’s minimum 15 years for murder, ruling Pistorius’ six year punishment sentence for killing Reeva Steenkamp had been ‘inappropriate’, Judge Willie Seriti said.

The time he has already served behind bars will be deducted from that punishment, so the effective sentence is 13 years. 

Reeva Steenkamp’s sister broke down and sobbed after MailOnline broke the news to her of Oscar Pistorius’s doubled jail term for her murder.

Simone Cowburn said: ‘Oh my God… is this true? But it is what he deserved. He took my sister’s life and he should get life in prison.

‘This isn’t going to bring Reeva back. Nothing will, but he needs to understand what he has done.’  

Murder: Pistorius  shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, pictured together less than a month before the murder, when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet

Murder: Pistorius  shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, pictured together less than a month before the murder, when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet

Ms Cowburn added: ‘Nobody except Oscar knows what happened that night.

‘But we know the last three bullets were meant to kill her and for that he needs to serve a long time in jail.’

Simone, who was Reeva’s step sister added: ‘This has torn apart my family and we will never be the same without Reeva. I’ll never be able to forgive him for what he did.’

The Steenkamp family spokesperson earlier said they welcomed the increased sentence and said it showed that justice could prevail in South Africa.

‘This is an emotional thing for them. They just feel that their trust in the justice system has been confirmed this morning,’ Tania Koen said. 

Pistorius’ family have yet to make an official statement, but his brother Carl tweeted: ”Shattered. Heartbroken. Gutted.’

Today’s finding was the second time the appeal judges have overruled Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over Pistorius’ murder trial and originally cleared the disgraced sprinter of murder.

In a damning written ruling, the appeal court was scathing of Pistorius, finding that he had failed to be frank at his trial, and subsequent appeal, or show genuine remorse for taking his lover’s life.

Emotional: The family of Ms Steenkamp welcomed the increased sentence and said it showed that justice could prevail in South Africa

Emotional: The family of Ms Steenkamp welcomed the increased sentence and said it showed that justice could prevail in South Africa

Other side: Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl tweeted his disappointment 

Other side: Oscar Pistorius’ brother Carl tweeted his disappointment 

Unusually, the court also singled out Judge Masipa for criticism, slamming her six year sentence for ‘trivialising’ the seriousness of Pistorius’ crime.

‘I find it difficult on the evidence to accept that the respondent is genuinely remorseful’, Judge Seriti concluded, adding, ‘the respondent has failed to explain why he fired the fatal shots, .. to my mind, the attempt by the respondent to apologise to the deceased’s family does not demonstrate any genuine remorse on his part.

‘He failed to take the court fully into his confidence despite having an opportunity to do so during the second sentencing proceedings. It is clear herefrom that the respondent is unable to appreciate the crime he has committed. ‘

The senior judge found there ‘are no substantial or compelling circumstances which can justify the departure from the prescribed minimum sentence.’

He damned Judge Masipa’s decision to hand down six years to the athlete as ‘shockingly lenient to the point where it has the effect of trivializing this serious offence.’

Pistorius, who turned 31 on Wednesday, is currently being held in ‘relaxed’ Atteridgeville Correctional Facility, a few miles from his family’s mansion where he has been working in the compound’s vegetable gardens and orchards and has his own en-suite bathroom.

But the jail only takes inmates serving a maximum of six years, which will now force Pistorius to be moved to the notorious, over-crowded Kgosi Mampuru II jail. 

New rules: Pistorius will be moved from the 'relaxed' Atteridgeville Correctional Facility (pictured) to the maximum-security Kgosi Mampuru II jail

New rules: Pistorius will be moved from the ‘relaxed’ Atteridgeville Correctional Facility (pictured) to the maximum-security Kgosi Mampuru II jail

Relaxed: While at Atteridgeville Correctional Facility, he has been working in the compound's vegetable gardens and orchards and has his own en-suite bathroom

Relaxed: While at Atteridgeville Correctional Facility, he has been working in the compound’s vegetable gardens and orchards and has his own en-suite bathroom

Different views: Pistorius now faces a return to Kgosi Mapuru II, a maximum security jail dominated by violent gangs, where he previously served a year in fear for his life

Different views: Pistorius now faces a return to Kgosi Mapuru II, a maximum security jail dominated by violent gangs, where he previously served a year in fear for his life

Back to this: View of the prison cell Pistorius occupied the last time he was incarcerated  at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria

Back to this: View of the prison cell Pistorius occupied the last time he was incarcerated  at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria

Pistorius pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2014 and has always denied that he killed Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.

Blade runner: Pistorius runs in the men's 400-meter semifinal at the 2012 Olympics

Blade runner: Pistorius runs in the men’s 400-meter semifinal at the 2012 Olympics

Previously a role model for disabled people worldwide, Pistorius was released from jail in 2015 after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter.

However, shortly after his release that year, Pistorius found was guilty of murder, irrespective of whoever was behind the door when he opened fire with a pistol he kept under his bed.

He returned behind bars after his conviction, and is being held at a prison in Pretoria.   

The year before he killed Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double-amputee to race at the Olympics when he competed at the London 2012 games.

Following today’s court ruling, a source close to the Pistorius family confirmed that the double amputee’s father Henke will now apply to become amicus curiae – Latin for ‘friend of the court’.

This will allow him to raise questions to undermine ballistics evidence that was heard during the trial. 

‘Henke believes that the state did not present accurate information to the court and this was not challenged by Barry Roux, Oscar’s lawyer.

‘He thinks the information he has spent months researching is vital and proves that Oscar had no intention of killing the person behind the door.

‘He is convinced he has enough to convince appeal court judges that there has been a miscarriage of justice in the case and his research clears Oscar of murder.’ 

THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF OSCAR PISTORIUS IN THE MURDER OF REEVA STEENKAMP

– 2013 –

February 14: Police arrest the Olympic and Paralympic sprinter for killing Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, who was shot four times at his Pretoria home.

February 15: Pistorius bursts into tears as he is charged, denying murder “in the strongest terms”.

February 19: Pistorius claims in an affidavit he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. He said he fired through a locked bathroom door, in what prosecutors term “premeditated” murder.

February 21: Global sportswear manufacturer Nike suspends its sponsorship contract with the athlete.

February 22: Pistorius is granted bail.

– 2014 –

March 3: The trial opens in Pretoria before an army of journalists from around the world, with the testimony of a neighbour who tells the court she heard “terrible screams” from a woman. Ten days later, Pistorius vomits when a picture of Steenkamp’s body is flashed on the court’s television screens.

April 7-15: Pistorius takes the stand and begins with a tearful apology to Steenkamp’s family. This is followed by five days of often intense cross-examination, marked by bouts of tears and breaks in the session. Pistorius steadfastly denies any intention to kill Steenkamp.

June 30: After a six-week break, a panel of three psychiatrists and a psychologist conclude Pistorius does not suffer from mental illness.

September 12: Judge Thokozile Masipa finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide or manslaughter.

October 21: The judge sentences him to a maximum of five years in jail. He is taken to Pretoria prison.

– 2015 – 

October 20: Pistorius is allowed out of prison after just one year to spend the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

December 3: The Supreme Court of Appeal convicts him of murder, saying his testimony was “vacillating and untruthful”.

December 8: Pistorius is released on bail pending sentencing, and remains under house arrest.

– 2016 – 

March 2: Pistorius, now 29, loses his final bid to appeal his murder conviction.

July 6: He is sentenced to six years in jail for murder.

August 14: South African media reports say Pistorius is put on 24-hour suicide watch.

September 15: Prosecutors say they will petition the Supreme Court of Appeal for a tougher sentence for Pistorius, having described the six-year term as “shockingly lenient”.

November 14: Prison authorities say Pistorius has been transferred to a prison adapted for disabled inmates just outside Pretoria to serve the rest of his sentence.

– 2017 –

November 3: The appeal court adjourns to consider its ruling after prosecutors argue that Pistorius’s jail term is too short, while defense lawyers say the judge handed down a fair sentence.

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