Murder of Girlfriend: Anger as Oscar Pistorius is sentenced to five years in prison

Pistorius in court

Anger and disbelief have been trailing the five years prison sentence handed to Oscar Pistorius for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot dead on Valentine's Day last year.
In a court in Pretoria, Judge Masipa also handed Pistorius a three-year sentence, suspended for five years, for negligently discharging a firearm in a crowded restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013.
The two sentences will run concurrently.

The killed lover, Reeva and Pistorius

The prosecution had wanted Pistorius to serve at least ten years in prison, while his own lawyers had argued that he should serve a three-year community-based sentence, such as 16 hours of domestic cleaning a month. 

Immediately after the verdict was read out, members of the athlete's family told reporters that there would be no appeal against the sentence, and that they expected Pistorius to go directly to prison. His legal team said their understanding was that he will have to serve ten months, one sixth of his sentence, in prison before being considered for house arrest.
However, Nathi Mncube, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, suggested Pistorius would have to serve at least one third of the prison sentence, around 20 months, in jail. He added that the NPA has an "appetite" to appeal but has not made a decision to do so yet. Both sides have two weeks in which to lodge an appeal.
Here is what the court heard:
9.35am: Oscar Pistorius is asked to stand for his sentence. Masipa says on count one of culpable homicide, he should serve a maximum of five years in prison. On count two, three years imprisonment, suspended for five years with the condition that the accused is not found guilty of a crime where there is negligence with the use of a firearm. The sentence in count one and count two shall run concurrently.
9.30am: Judge Masipa is looking at the sentencing guidelines from case law, including the cases raised by the defence in which the accused was convicted of culpable homicide but escaped prison. Masipa says that in her view "none of these cases are important". She outlines why she thinks facts in these cases are "dissimilar" to those in the present case.
She says that the degree of negligence in Pistorius's case means that the sentence put forward by the defence witnesses would "not be appropriate" considering the circumstances.
9.10am: Masipa runs through the mitigating and aggravating factors in sentencing. The facts that Pistorius shot not one but four shots into a small toilet cubicle and had undergone training in firearms are "very aggravating", she says. However, he is a first offender and seems remorseful. She accepts the defence's evidence that he had tried to apologise to Reeva's parents privately but they were not ready so the attempt failed. Masipa says she disagrees with the state that mental and physical facts should not be taken into account in sentencing because they had already been taken into account in the conviction. Mental and physical factors "ought to be considered together with other relevant factors", she says.
The judge states that society cannot always gets what it wants. "Courts do not exist to win popularity contests but exist solely to dispense justice," she says. Nothing I say or do today can reverse what happened to the victim, says Masipa.
9.00am: Masipa says she is satisfied that prisons can accommodate prisoners with the accused's needs and says she has no reason to believe that Pistorius would present Correctional Services with an "insurmountable challenge". For example, if he needs a bench in the shower it would be "unreasonable" to think that he would not be provided with one.
It cannot be disputed that a pregnant woman belongs to one of the most vulnerable groups of people, says Masipa. Yet a pregnant woman will be sentenced to jail if such a sentence is warranted.
The judge says it would be a "sad day for this country" if the court created an impression that there is one law for the poor and one law for the rich and famous.
Masipa admits she had "a feeling of unease" over the defence's "overemphasis" of the accused's vulnerability. Yes, he is vulnerable but he also has excellent coping skills, she says. Thanks to his mother, he rarely saw himself as disabled and excelled as a top athlete against the odds, even competing against non-disabled athletes.
8.55am: Masipa is summarising the evidence from the prosecution witnesses. The prosecution called:

• Kim Martin: Reeva's cousin, who described the victim's life and the impact of her death on the family
• Moleko Zac Modise, the acting national commissioner of South Africa's Correctional Services department, who defended the prison service and assured the court that it could cater for Pistorius's needs

Masipa says she was not impressed by Annette Vergeer's evidence, describing it as "slapdash, disappointing and had a negative on her credibility as a witness". On the other hand, she was impressed by the evidence given by Moleko Zac Modise. She says she has no hesitation in viewing his evidence as "true and reliable".
8.45am: Judge Masipa tells the court that although she has two assessors to help her, the decision is "mine and mine alone". She said she has taken into account the nature and seriousness of the offences for which Pistorius has been convicted, as well as factors such as retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation.
Masipa is summarising the evidence from witnesses heard in the sentencing hearing. The defence called:

• Dr Lore Hartzenberg, Pistorius's personal psychologist, who held grief and trauma counselling sessions with the athlete
• Joel Maringa, a social worker from the Department of Correctional Services, who recommended a three-year community based sentence
• Peet van Zyl, Pistorius's agent, who detailed his client's charity work
• Annette Vergeer, a social worker and registered probation officer, who claimed that prison facilities would not cater to Pistorius's needs

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/oscar-pistorius/53387/oscar-pistorius-sentenced-to-five-by-judge-masipa-today-watch-live#ixzz3GqwMH55w