South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been given five years in jail for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Judge Thokozile Masipa also gave Pistorius a three-year suspended sentence for a firearms charge. The parents of Reeva Steenkamp told the BBC they were happy with the sentence and relieved the case was over. The defense said it expected Pistorius to serve about 10 months in prison. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide but cleared of murder. Prosecutors had called for a minimum 10-year term, and the defence had argued for community service and house arrest. ‘Feeling of unease’ Pistorius showed little reaction to the sentence other than to wipe his eyes before being led away to the cells downstairs. He was then driven away from court in a police van to Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru prison. It is expected that he will be held in a one-man cell in the hospital wing. Correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela later told AFP news agency Pistorius was “already accommodated at Kgosi Mampuru”. Defense lawyer Barry Roux said his client was expected to serve 10 months in prison, with the rest under house arrest. Dup De Bruyn, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family, told Reuters that “justice was served”, although he believed Pistorius would probably serve two years.
At the scene: Andrew Harding, BBC News, Pretoria. Before he went down the stairs and out of court, Oscar Pistorius slipped off his expensive watch and handed it to a relative. It seems the athlete probably knew his sentence beforehand, which helps explains the subdued atmosphere in court today. This case has revealed plenty about South Africa – its gun culture, the strengths and inadequacies of its police and prisons. But above all it has been a simple story, about the rise and fall of a global icon. As the crowds and cameras drift away from the courthouse, what lingers is the sense of waste. Of lives and careers for sure. But of time too. A man and a woman went into a bathroom. Only one came out alive. As the judge made clear – the trial should have been over in a matter of weeks. Instead it turned into a tortuous, overwrought epic.
