Oscar Pistorius May be released to house arrest after 10 months in prison

Judge Thokozile Masipa delivered the ruling on Tuesday after reviewing prosecution arguments for a tough sentence as well as the defence case for a more lenient punishment for the double-amputee Olympic runner.

Legal analysts say he could be released into house arrest 10 months.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year, shooting her through a closed toilet door in his home. Pistorius testified that the shooting was an accident after mistaking his girlfriend for a night-time intruder.

Masipa convicted him of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, but acquitted him of murder.

The family of slain model Reeva Steenkamp welcomed the sentencing.


Steenkamp’s ailing father Barry said he was “very glad” the seven-month trial is over and a lawyer for the family said the sentence was “welcome”.

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BEHIND BARS: Inside the jail where Oscar Pistorius could be going

Sentencing ... South African Judge Thokozile Masipa is set to seal Oscar Pistorius’s fate

Sentencing ... South African Judge Thokozile Masipa. Source: AFP

The disgraced Paralympian will be going to Kgosi Mampuru II, formerly known as Pretoria Central Prison.

The judge said it would have been inappropriate to allow Pistorius to avoid jail.

Pistorius, who had vomited and wept at times during the trial, stood stock-still in the dock as he was sentenced, veins bulging in his forehead and his jaw muscles clenched.

“Count one, culpable homicide: the sentence imposed is five years,” judge Thokozile Masipa said.

Pistorius, 27, was also given a three-year suspended sentence on a separate gun offence conviction.
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