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Reuters

Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius started a five-year jail term yesterday for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, following a trial that has gripped South Africans and millions around the world.
As Judge Thokozile Masipa gave her decision on the 27-year-old's sentence for culpable homicide, Pistorius, whose downfall has been likened to that of American football star O.J. Simpson, stood resolutely in the dock.
His only reaction was to wipe his eyes before two police officers led him to the holding cells beneath the High Court in the heart of the South African capital.
Ninety minutes later, an armoured police vehicle carrying Pistorius - still dressed in dark suit, white shirt and black tie - left the building through a throng of reporters for Pretoria Central Prison.
Watch: Oscar Pistorius sentenced to up to 5 years in prison

Once the execution site for opponents of South Africa's former white-minority government, the jail is now home to the country's most hardened criminals, among them apartheid death squad leader Eugene de Kock, also known as "Prime Evil".
Prison officials said Pistorius would be housed in a separate and secure hospital wing of the massive complex.
Masipa stressed the difficulty of arriving at a sentence that was "fair and just to society and to the accused". She rebuffed suggestions that Pistorius - a wealthy and influential white man - might be able to secure preferential justice despite the "equality before law" guarantee enshrined in the post-apartheid 1996 constitution.
"It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were created that there is one law for the poor … and one for the rich," she said.
Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model, died almost instantly on Valentine's Day last year after Pistorius shot her through a locked toilet door in his luxury Pretoria home.
Prosecutors pushed for a murder conviction, but the athlete maintained he fired in the mistaken belief an intruder was hiding behind the door, a defence that struck home in a country with one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.
The ruling African National Congress' Women's League, which is at the forefront of political efforts to tackle violence against South African women, called for an appeal by the state against the September 12 culpable homicide conviction.
But Steenkamp's family said they were satisfied with the sentence. "Justice was served," family lawyer Dup De Bruyn said outside court, adding that the judge had given "the right sentence".

With no minimum sentence for culpable homicide - South Africa's equivalent of manslaughter - Pistorius could have been punished with a few years of house arrest combined with community service.
The state prosecuting authority, which has two weeks to decide whether to launch an appeal against the verdict, said Pistorius was likely to serve at least a third of his sentence in prison.
Pistorius was separately convicted for firing a handgun in a Johannesburg restaurant and given a three-year suspended sentence. Even if freed early, he would not be able to resume his athletics career until his full term was served, the International Paralympic Committee said, ruling out any appearance at the 2016 Rio Olympics.


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Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius jailed five years for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

South African police lead Paralympic athlete "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius into an armoured vehicle headed for Pretoria Central Prison yesterday. Photo: AFP

South African police lead Paralympic athlete "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius into an armoured vehicle headed for Pretoria Central Prison yesterday. Photo: EPA

South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius attends his sentencing at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Judge Thokozile Masipa presided over the Pistorius murder trial. Photo: EPA

Reeva Steenkamp (left) had dated the Olympic athlete, dubbed "Blade Runner" for his prosthetics, for around three months before the shooting. Photo: AFP

Parents of the late Reeva Steenkamp Barry and June arrive at the court in Pretroia. Photo: AP

After life of luxury, Pistorius will be one 7,000 inmates in Pretoria prison

The Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Services prison is Oscar Pistorius’ new home. The athlete was sentenced yesterday to five years behind bars for killing his girlfriend. Photo: AP

Oscar Pistorius celebrates winning a gold medal (top) at the 2012 Paralympic Games. With blonde model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp he seemed to have it all, but three weeks after the picture (below left) was taken, he shot her dead on Valentine's Day last year in his bathroom, where (below right) he re-enacts how she looked when he found her lying in a pool of blood.Photos: EPA, Seven Network, AFP

Pistorius reenacted on Australian television how he found Reeva Steenkamp dead in the bathroom after he shot through the bathroom door at what he says he thought was an intruder. Photo: SCMP

Oscar Pistorius and girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photo: AFP

News

World

Judge strikes balance between justice and mercy in sprinter's sentencing


Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius started a five-year jail term for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, following a trial that has gripped South Africans and millions around the world.


Update | Oscar Pistorius jailed five years for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

Judge strikes balance between justice and mercy in sprinter's sentencing