Paralympian Oscar Pistorious has his jail sentence more than doubled to 13 years on appeal

SOUTH African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has had his jail sentence for manslaughter more than doubled to 13 and a half years after the supreme court decoded that the earlier term of six years which he received was shockingly light.

Pistorious was initially given a six-year term for manslaughter in 2014 but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015. He shot his girlfriend Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.

At the time, the lower court had justified the six-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse. However, the sentence was appealed, with prosecutors arguing that the term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was shockingly light.

A spokesman for Ms Steenkamp's family said the latest ruling verified there was justice, after the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein sentenced Mr Pistorious to the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served. Mr Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.

Pistorious, 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.