A South African court more than doubled the sentence of former Olympian Oscar Pistorius Friday, dismissing the original six-year sentence he received for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as “shockingly lenient.”The 31-year-old former sprinter was not in the Bloemfontein court to hear a unanimous decision handed down by five judges on the Supreme Court of Appeal.The ruling said High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa had “given [Pistorius’] rehabilitation undue weight” in her 2016 verdict, and there was no reason why the minimum 15-year sentence should not be imposed.“The sentence of six years is shockingly lenient to the point where it has the effect of trivializing this serious offense,” the court said.Rights groups claimed Pistorius had received preferential treatment because he is white and wealthy.Pistorius’ sentence was commuted to 13 years and five months to reflect time already served.
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“This is an emotional thing for them,” Tania Koen, a spokeswoman for the Steenkamp family, told Reuters following Friday’s verdict.“They just feel that their trust in the justice system has been confirmed this morning.”The ruling is the latest twist in a case that has captivated South Africa for more than four years:
- 2013 — Steenkamp was shot and killed by Pistorius when he fired four bullets through the bathroom door of his home. He claimed he thought a burglar was inside the house.
- 2014 — Following a court case that captivated the world, Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced by Masipa. The lenient sentence was widely criticized.
- 2015 — Pistorius was released from prison and put under house arrest after serving just 10 months of his sentence.
- 2016 — The state appealed the manslaughter conviction and the SCA replaced it with murder. Masipa handed down a six-year jail term, which was also strongly criticized by state prosecutors.
- 2017 — Pistorius has his sentence more than doubled to 15 years, minus time served by the SCA.