Oscar Pistorius Murder Sentence Increased

The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa has extended Oscar Pistorius’ murder sentence to 15 years. He will effectively serve 13 years and five months due to time already served.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had announced in July 2016 that it would appeal the famous athlete’s six-year sentence for the murder of his then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The NPA said the previous sentence was “shockingly light” and “too lenient”.

Earlier this month state prosecutors told the SCA that Pistorius had shown no “true gut-wrenching remorse”. Thirty-one-year-old Pistorius killed Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, when he shot four bullets through a closed toilet door. He claimed he didn’t realised it was Steenkamp behind the door, and that he thought it was a burglar.

Today the SCA changed the sentence for the Olympic and Paralympic runner who is known around the world as Blade Runner for his two prosthetic running legs. On Friday morning the hashtag #BladeRunnerKiller was trending on Twitter.

Judge Willie Seriti said the court unanimously found the the original sentence was inappropriate.

Steenkamp’s family spokeswoman, Tania Koen, said: “This is an emotional thing for them. They just feel that their trust in the justice system has been confirmed this morning.”

Fifteen years is the prescribed minimum for murder in South Africa.

The moment Judge Seriti hands down the #OscarPistorius judgment. Courtesy #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/01LO7CKmJa

— eNCA (@eNCA) November 24, 2017

UPDATE: In July 2016, the NPA announced it would appeal #OscarPistorius’ 6-year sentence. Today, the Supreme Court of Appeal changed the sentence to 13 years and 5 months for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. pic.twitter.com/PmTYO9VRCG

— Carte Blanche (@carteblanchetv) November 24, 2017

(If you’re overseas, you can watch Carte Blanche’s in-depth analysis of the case on Showmax.)