The state had argued that the original sentence was “shockingly lenient”, and South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal heard the appeal and increased the sentence by more than double.
Jealous Oscar Pistorious cold bloodedly killed his beautiful girlfriend
Pistorious wasn’t there at the hearing as the court handed down the minimum 15-year sentence prescribed for murder in South Africa.
A spokesperson for the Steenkamp family, said: "This is an emotional thing for them. They just feel that their trust in the justice system has been confirmed this morning."
During the trial, the runner claimed he mistook 29-year-old Ms Steenkamp for a burglar when he fired four bullets through the bathroom door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.
The paralympian was jailed in July 2016 after being found guilty on appeal of murdering Ms Steenkamp. The original trial judge - Judge Masipa initially ruled the state failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius was guilty of premeditated murder, but was still be guilty of culpable homicide.
He was sentenced to five years for culpable homicide, but was released from prison and placed under house arrest. His conviction was then overturned in favour of murder following an appeal, and he was sentenced to six years.
Pistorious will have much longer to think about his crime
In July 2016, South Africa's National Prosecuting Agency said the murder sentence was "shockingly too lenient", and announced plans to appeal for a longer sentence.
There weren’t many people who were hopeful of this outcome. A rich and famous white South African had beaten the South African legal system already. But partial justice has finally been handed out. 15 years is still too lenient, and the famous athlete has got the minimum sentence for murder, but at least it’s much longer than the few years he had served, and a step forward for South Africa.
Sources:
www.365.com
www.skysports.com
www.nydailynews.com
www.wordpress.com
