{"id":26650,"date":"2016-07-06T02:18:25","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T02:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/oscar-pistorius-set-to-learn-sentence-for-reeva\/"},"modified":"2016-07-06T02:18:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T02:18:42","slug":"oscar-pistorius-set-to-learn-sentence-for-reeva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/oscar-pistorius-set-to-learn-sentence-for-reeva\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Pistorius set to learn sentence for Reeva Steenkamp murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

{South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is due to be sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend in 2013.}<\/p>\n

Pistorius, 29, could face 15 years in prison after a court last December convicted him of murder.<\/p>\n

The ruling came after the state appealed against a manslaughter verdict, for which Pistorius has served nine months of a five-year sentence.<\/p>\n

Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013.<\/p>\n

Pistorius is a six-time Paralympic gold medallist whose legs were amputated below the knee as a baby. He made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic “blades”.<\/p>\n

At the court session in Pretoria on Wednesday, Pistorius faces the prospect of many more years behind bars.<\/p>\n

Murder carries a 15-year minimum jail term in South Africa. Judge Thokozile Masipa will have to consider whether there are compelling reasons for deviating from the prescribed sentence.<\/p>\n

However, the sentence may not bring an end to the drawn-out case as both the prosecution and defence have the right to appeal.<\/p>\n

Last month during a dramatic pre-sentencing hearing, the double amputee was asked by his own defence team to remove his prosthetic legs and walk around the courtroom.<\/p>\n

His unsteady gait sought to remind the judge of his vulnerability, which could be a mitigating factor.<\/p>\n

The judge may also take into consideration his sense of remorse, the BBC’s Karen Allen in Pretoria reports.<\/p>\n

However, the athlete’s critics have cast doubt on this, our correspondent adds.<\/p>\n

They argue that a TV interview with Pistorius broadcast just two weeks ago is an aggravating factor. They claim it showed poor judgement and was an insult to the court and Reeva Steenkamp’s grieving family.<\/p>\n

August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal<\/p>\n

February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp<\/p>\n

March 2014: Trial begins<\/p>\n

September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide<\/p>\n

October 2014: Begins five-year sentence<\/p>\n

October 2015: Transferred to house arrest<\/p>\n

December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder<\/p>\n

\"Pistorius<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is due to be sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend in 2013.} Pistorius, 29, could face 15 years in prison after a court last December convicted him of murder. The ruling came after the state appealed against a manslaughter verdict, for which Pistorius has served nine months of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[100],"byline":[249],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-26650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-justice","tag-africa","byline-bbc"],"bylines":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"contributors":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26650"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=26650"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=26650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}