Pistorius Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Murder of Reeva Steenkamp

The former Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius shot and killed Miss Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on Valentines Day 2013. Born in Cape Town, Reeva worked as a model and on television. She had been in a relationship with Pistorius for three months at the time of her death.

He was initially convicted of culpable homocide and sentenced to five years in prison, serving one year before being released to house arrest in October 2015. However, following an appeal, his conviction was changed to murder in December 2015.

Pistorius has never denied that he shot his then-girlfriend four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013. However, his position has always been that he mistook Reeva for an intruder and fired out of fear for their safety.

Pistorius was born with fibular hemimelia and had both legs amputated halfway between the knees and ankles at the age of 11 months. During a recent court appearance, he walked without his prosthetics to demonstrate how vulnerable he could potentially be.

Judge Thokozile Masipa – who oversaw his initial trial and manslaughter conviction – sentenced him to six years. According to the BBC, the usual 15-year sentence for murder was not used due to mitigating circumstances, such as his rehabilitation and remorse.

Pistorius will need to serve at least half of his six-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He has now been taken to Khosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.

Nicknamed "Blade Runner", he won six Paralympic gold medals between the 2004 and 2012 games, and was the first amputee to compete at the Olympics when he ran at London 2012.