A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius’s 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 “shockingly light”.
A spokesman for Ms Steenkamp’s family said the ruling “verified there was justice”.
Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has now given him the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.
The lower court had justified the six-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse.
It said they outweighed aggravating factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.
The athlete was not in court to hear the decision.
He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter in 2014, but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.
Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.
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 “blades”.
He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.
Rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius
- August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal
- February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
- March 2014: Trial begins
- September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide
- October 2014: Begins five-year sentence
- October 2015: Transferred to house arrest
- December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder
- July 2016: Sentenced to six years in jail for murder
- November 2017: Sentence more than doubled to 15 years, less time served
Source: BBC
