South African prosecutors are appealing for a longer sentence for Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.<\/p>\n
They told the Supreme Court of Appeal the six-year sentence was “shockingly light” and he should get 15 years.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyers say the sentence handed down by a lower court is appropriate.<\/p>\n
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar at his home in the capital Pretoria.<\/p>\n
The lower court justified deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence by saying mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse outweighed aggravating factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.<\/p>\n
But prosecutor Andrea Johnson said the sentence did not match the gravity of the crime.<\/p>\n
Pistorius, 30, is not in the court in Bloemfontein. He is being held at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison in Pretoria.<\/p>\n
He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter in 2014, but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.<\/p>\n
Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013.<\/p>\n
Previously, the six-time Paralympic gold medallist had made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic “blades”.<\/p>\n
He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"