Pistorius jailed for 5 years
South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, ending a trial that has gripped South Africa and the world.
As judge Thokozile Masipa read out her decision on Pistorius's September 12 culpable homicide conviction, the 27-year-old, 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 down to the holding cells beneath the High Court in the heart of the South African capital. An armoured police vehicle took him from the court building.
Masipa -- only the second black woman to rise to the bench -- stressed the difficulty of arriving at a decision that was "fair and just to society and to the accused".
The 67-year-old also 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 South Africa's post-apartheid constitution.
Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model, died almost instantly on Valentine's Day last year when Pistorius shot her three times through a locked toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home.
The athlete maintained that he fired in the mistaken belief an intruder was hiding behind the door, a defence that struck a chord 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, immediately called for an appeal by the state against the culpable homicide conviction.
With no minimum sentence for culpable homicide, South Africa's equivalent of manslaughter, Pistorius could have been punished with a period of house arrest combined with community service.
Before the decision, protesters picketed against Pistorius outside the court, a sign of the anger that might have ensued and the damage that might have been done to the much-criticised judicial system if the sentence was seen as too light.
"Why are certain offenders more equal than others before the law?" said one demonstrator, Golden Miles Bhudu.
However, Masipa pointed to the moral and philosophical changes South Africa has undergone since the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994 and the end of white-minority apartheid rule, saying the "eye-for-an-eye" principle no longer applied and courts did not dispense mob justice.
"As a country we have moved on from the dark ages," she said. "Society cannot always get what they want because courts do not exist to win popularity contests."
Pistorius' defence lawyer, Barry Roux, said he expected the jailed athlete to serve only 10 months of the five-year sentence behind bars, and the remainder under house arrest.
However, South Africa's state prosecuting authority disputed this, saying Pistorius was likely to serve at least a third of his sentence in prison -- effectively 20 months.
On a separate firearms charge for which Pistorius was also found guilty, Masipa gave him a three-year suspended sentence.
The athlete, known as "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, became one of the biggest names in world athletics at the London 2012 Olympics when he reached the semifinals of the 400m race against able-bodied athletes.
TIMELINE
2013
FEBRUARY
14: South African police arrest Pistorius, a Paralympic and Olympic sprinter nicknamed the "Blade Runner", for the killing of Steenkamp, shot four times with one of his guns at his Pretoria house.
15: Pistorius bursts into tears as he is charged, denying murder "in the strongest terms".
19: Pistorius claims in an affidavit that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and was "filled with horrible fear" that someone had sneaked into his home.
20: Witnesses testify they heard arguing, a woman screaming and gunfire at Pistorius's house the night of the slaying, police tell the court.
21: US sportswear giant Nike suspends its contract with Pistorius.
22: Pistorius is granted bail set at one million rand ($100,000, 75,000 euros).
MARCH
28: A court clears Pistorius for international travel, easing his strict bail terms.
APRIL
14: Pistorius is seen partying at a trendy Johannesburg hangout, media report.
MAY
20: Pistorius will not race this season, his agent says.
JUNE
28: Pistorius is to resume limited training for his mental wellbeing, but does not plan a return to competition, his family announces.
2014
JANUARY
23: Pistorius's lawyers and Steenkamp's family are discussing an out-of-court financial settlement, a lawyer says.
FEBRUARY
25: A judge rules that most of Pistorius's trial can be broadcast live, but not his testimony or that of witnesses who ask not to be filmed.
MARCH
3: The trial opens in Pretoria, before an army of journalists from around the world, with the testimony of a neighbour who told the court she heard "terrible screams" from a woman and shots.
13: Pistorius vomits when a picture of the dead model's body was flashed on the court's television screens.
APRIL
7-15: Pistorius takes the witness stand and begins with a tearful apology to the family of the woman he shot dead. This is followed by five days of often intense cross-examination, marked by several bouts of tears and breaks in the session. Pistorius steadfastly denies any intention to kill Steenkamp.
JUNE
30: After a six-week break, a panel of three psychiatrists and a psychologist conclude that Pistorius was not suffering from mental illness. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of murder.
AUGUST
7: State prosecutor Gerrie Nel, in his final argument before the court, accuses Pistorius of concocting an alibi that led to a "snowball effect" of lies.
8: The trial concludes with closing arguments from the defence.
SEPTEMBER
12: Pistorius is found guilty of culpable homicide for shooting Steenkamp, but is cleared of murder.
OCTOBER
17: The prosecutor calls for a 10-year prison term, while the defence requests a non-custodial sentence served under house arrest.
21: Judge Thokozile Masipa sentences Pistorius to a maximum of five years in jail, the fallen sprinter is taken to Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru prison.
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