Oscar Pistorius was jailed for five years today for killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp - but could spend as little as ten months behind bars.
The disgraced Paralympian wiped his eyes as he was handed a five-year prison term after the judge ruled that a non-custodial sentence would send the 'wrong message to the community'.
As he was led down to the cells, Miss Steenkamp's mother, June, smiled as she told of a sense of 'closure' after a seventh-month trial, but said it 'would not magic Reeva back.'
The model's ailing father, who suffered a stroke after his daughter's death, said he was 'very glad' the trial was over. A lawyer for the family said the sentence was 'welcome'.
The runner's sister Aimee briefly covered her head with a jacket and looked distressed. His family said he would not appeal the sentence.
Pistorius was later driven away from court in a prison van to the gang-ridden Pretoria Central Prison, where one criminal kingpin has already threatened to 'take him out'.
The athlete was found guilty of culpable homicide, but was acquitted of murder after shooting Miss Steenkamp four times through a toilet cubicle door at his home last year.
According to legal observers, Pistorius could spend only ten months in jail and, provided he poses no trouble to the prison authorities, could spend the remainder of his sentence under correctional supervision at home
1 comments:
Good for him.
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