Search icon

News

03rd Dec 2015

BREAKING: Oscar Pistorius Manslaughter Verdict Changed To Murder

Pistorius will return to court for a new sentence to be decided.

Megan Cassidy

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned his conviction of culpable homicide.

The double-amputee killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after shooting her through a locked bathroom door four times in February 2013.

Last year a judge gave Pistorius a five-year jail sentence for manslaughter, but prosecuters said he should have been convicted of murder.

He is currently in house arrest after spending one year of his five-year sentence in jail.

The athlete left jail on parole in October and was due to spend the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

Pistorius will now return to court for a new sentence to be decided, and could face at least fifteen years in prison.

The judge said aspects of the first trial were flawed as some technical evidence was not taken into account.

Prosecutors who lodged the appeal said Pistorius intended to kill Ms. Steenkamp, an accusation he denied, upholding that he mistook her for an intruder.

The case has been a topic of debate, with some rights groups saying Pistorius got preferential treatment because of his disability and public stature.