S. African Supreme Court more than doubles Pistorius sentence

24 Nov, 2017 08:45 / Updated 6 years ago

South Africa’s Supreme Court increased Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’ murder sentence to 13 years and five months on Friday, after the state argued that his original sentence of six years was “shockingly lenient,” Reuters said. Pistorius was imprisoned in July last year after being found guilty on appeal of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. The athlete was not in court for Friday’s ruling, when the court handed down the minimum 15-year sentence prescribed for murder, and subtracted the years Pistorius had already served. Steenkamp’s family welcomed the increased sentence, saying it showed that “justice could prevail in South Africa.”