A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius’s jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was “shockingly light”.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Ms Steenkamp’s family said the ruling “verified there was justice”.<\/p>\n
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has now given him the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.<\/p>\n
The lower court had justified the six-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse.<\/p>\n
It said they outweighed aggravating factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.<\/p>\n
The athlete was not in court to hear the decision.<\/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 Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.<\/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":"