A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius\u2019s jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was too short.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled his sentence be increased to 15 years, less time already served.<\/p>\n
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine\u2019s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.<\/p>\n
The lower court had justified deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse.<\/p>\n
It said they outweighed aggravating factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.<\/p>\n
He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter in 2014, but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.<\/p>\n
Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.<\/p>\n
Previously, the six-time Paralympic gold medallist had made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic \u201cblades\u201d.<\/p>\n
He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.<\/p>\n
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Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius\u2019s jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months. Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was too short. The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled his sentence be increased to 15 years, less time already served. Pistorius claimed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[2040],"yoast_head":"\n