View Single Post
Old 21-10-14, 11:54   #6
Ladybbird
 
Ladybbird's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 47,368
Thanks: 27,593
Thanked 14,456 Times in 10,262 Posts
Ladybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond reputeLadybbird has a reputation beyond repute

Awards Showcase
Best Admin Best Admin Gold Medal Gold Medal 
Total Awards: 8

Default re: VIDEO/PhOtOs-State Appeals Pistorius Light Sentence>5 yrs



Pistorius Jailed For Five Years

Press Association, 21 October 2014


Oscar Pistorius has been jailed for five years for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day last year.

The amputee athlete, known as the Blade Runner, stood staring straight ahead as Judge Thokozile Masipa announced his sentence for killing the model.


A member of Pistorius's legal team claimed after the hearing that he is expected to serve a sixth of the sentence - around 10 months - in jail before being held under house arrest.

Pistorius, 27, was also given three years suspended for five years for a firearms offence.





Oscar Pistorius sits in court in Pretoria as he is sentenced for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (AP)


The judge handed down an immediate prison term for the charge of culpable homicide, saying she believed a non-custodial sentence would "send the wrong message to the community".



Judge Masipa has ruled in a trial that has captured public attention in South Africa and beyond



Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp, 29, in the early hours of February 14 2013 when he shot her through the bathroom door at his home in Pretoria. He insisted he thought he was firing at an intruder.

The courtroom was packed for the culmination of a case that has attracted intense scrutiny around the world. Interest was heightened by a ruling allowing some parts to be screened live on television.
Police officers stood guard in the aisles, while Ms Steenkamp's family watched from the public gallery.

After a summary of the evidence in the case and related legal issues, the judge said:

"Having regard to the circumstances of the matter, I am of the view that a non-custodial sentence would send the wrong message to the community.
"On the other hand, a long sentence would also not be appropriate either as it would lack the element of mercy."
Asking Pistorius to stand, she said: "The following... is what I consider to be a sentence that is fair and just, both to society and to the accused."

Earlier, she described Ms Steenkamp as "vivacious and full of life". The court heard her parents June and Barry in particular were "not coping very well without their daughter".
Judge Masipa said: "The loss of life cannot be reversed. Nothing I say or do today can reverse what happened on February 14 2013 to the deceased and to her family.
"Hopefully, this judgment on sentence shall provide some sort of closure for the family and all concerned so that they can move on with their lives."

Earlier she said: "It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one law for the poor and disadvantaged, and another for the rich and famous."
She said that during the course of the trial she had a feeling of unease as she listened to "one witness after another" place an "over-emphasis on the accused's vulnerability".
She said that while Pistorius is vulnerable, he has "excellent coping skills", and pointed out that he went on to compete against able-bodied athletes, but she said: "For some reason, that picture remains obscured in the background."
Judge Masipa criticised evidence given during the trial which questioned the ability of prisons in South Africa to cope with Pistorius's disability.
She said the expert's evidence "did not inspire any confidence in this court", and described it as "slapdash" and "disappointing".

The judge said that while the Department of Correctional Services was not perfect, it had made strides and was "moving with the times".
She said: "If the accused in this matter were to be given a custodial sentence, it would not be the first time that the Correctional Services Department was confronted with an inmate with disabilities."
She said she was satisfied that the department was equipped to deal with inmates with special needs and said it was "coping reasonably well".
She said Pistorius would not present the department with an "insurmountable challenge".
Judge Masipa gave the example of a pregnant woman belonging to one of the "most vulnerable groups of people", and said a pregnant woman would be sentenced to jail if such a sentence was warranted.

The judge said South Africa had "long moved on" from an era of "an eye for an eye" justice.
Pistorius had "helped change the general public's perceptions of disabled people", Judge Masipa told the court in Pretoria.
She added: "His impact on others was worldwide ... but it ought to be put into perspective."

The Olympic and Paralympic athlete, who had his lower legs amputated as a baby, fired his 9mm pistol four times through the closed toilet door at his luxury home.
Last month the judge dismissed claims that he intentionally killed Ms Steenkamp, saying Pistorius could not be convicted of either pre-meditated or second-degree murder.
But he was convicted of culpable homicide - the South African equivalent of the UK's manslaughter charge - as well as a gun charge relating to an incident in a restaurant in January last year.

Referring to the night of Ms Steenkamp's death, the judge said today that on his own account Pistorius thought there was an intruder in the toilet cubicle.
"Using a lethal weapon, a loaded firearm, the accused fired not one but four shots into the toilet door," she said.
She said mitigating factors included Pistorius's apparent remorse and his attempt to apologise to his victim's family.

As she left court, the victim's mother, June Steenkamp, was asked by reporters about suggestions that Pistorius would not serve the full five years in prison.
She said: "It doesn't matter, he's going to pay something."
Asked if she thought justice had been served, she said: "Yes."
The model's father, Barry, who suffered a stroke after her death, said: "We are satisfied."

The jailed athlete's uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said outside court: "This has been an incredibly hard, painful process for everyone involved.
"It has been a harrowing 20 months. We are all emotionally drained and exhausted.
"The case, set down for three weeks originally, has been dragged out for seven months. In fact, for 20 months since the bail application."
He hit out at the prosecution case.
"We said from the beginning that the state tried to force a puzzle into a position of pre-meditated murder," he said. "When they realised the fact that it didn't fit, they changed this case to a mosaic when everything can opportunistically fit everywhere.
"One of the most distressing parts for me of this whole trial was how the truth became totally irrelevant for the state's attempt to make pre-meditated murder fit."
He said the family accepted the sentence.
"Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society."

He added: "As a last word I want to say something as an uncle. I hope Oscar will start his own healing process as he walks down the path of restoration.
"As a family, we are ready to support and guide Oscar as he serves his sentence."

The judge told the court that Pistorius has no income and no property after selling it during the course of the trial.
Press Association Sport understands the six-time Paralympic champion will be ineligible for athletic competition until he has served his sentence.
It means Pistorius, who won his first Paralympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 aged 17, will not be free to compete in International Paralympic Committee events until 2019.
It ensures the 400 metres specialist, who won three Paralympic golds in Beijing in 2008 and another at London 2012, where he also competed in the Olympics, will miss the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, but may, should he wish to do so, return for Tokyo 2020.





Oscar Pistorius outside the court in Pretoria before he was jailed for killing his girlfriend last year





Oscar Pistorius is led out of court in Pretoria (AP)





Oscar Pistorius, left front, greets his uncle Arnold Pistorius, right, and other family members as he is led out of court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. Pistorius received a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide by judge Thokozile Masipais for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year (AP Photo/Herman Verwey, Pool)



He was driven away in a prison van


Oscar Pistorius Sentenced Five Years Prison South African Jail For Killing Reeva Steenkamp:



Pistorius Leaves Pretoria Court in Armoured Police Vehicle




Reeva's Mother Reacts to Pistorius' Five-Year Jail Sentence:



__________________
PUTIN TRUMP & Netanyahu Will Meet in HELL










TRUMP WARNS; 'There'll Be a Bloodbath If I Don't Get Elected'


PLEASE HELP THIS SITE..Click DONATE
& Thanks to ALL Members of ... 1..

THIS SITE IS MORE THAN JUST WAREZ...& TO STOP SPAM-IF YOU WANT TO POST, YOUR FIRST POST MUST BE IN WELCOMES
Ladybbird is online now   Reply With Quote