Kanyi Okeke
Judge Masipa has sentenced Oscar Pistorius to six years’ imprisonment for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.
She said there were “substantial and compelling reasons” to deviate from the 15-year minimum sentence for murder, citing as one factor the continuing misperception that Pistorius had intended to kill his girlfriend.
Pistorius used a lethal weapon, with high-grade ammunition, and fired four times, “knowing full well” there was someone in the bathroom.
He did not take the precaution of firing a warning shot.
She said it was a “noble gesture” of Pistorius to offer to do community service. But punishment is not what you choose to do. It ought to be painful.
But she says a long-term imprisonment will not serve justice. No sentence will please everyone, she says. Nothing will bring back the deceased. The life of the accused will never be the same. He is a fallen hero … He cannot be at peace.
She says she was not surprised to hear him described as a broken man.
