Oscar Pistorius has been handed a maximum five year prison sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steemkamp plus a three year suspended sentence for firearm contravention, with Judge Thokozile Masipa saying 'A non-custodial sentence would send a wrong message to the community.'
She had previously stated 'Hopefully this sentence shall provide some sort of closure to the family.'
Masipa had found Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide last month but the Paralympian was cleared of murder charges. Before delivering her sentence, Masipa said that sentencing is a 'imperfect procedure' at the best of times but stated the decision is 'mine and mine alone.'
Prior to the sentencing Pistorius' family had said they would support him 'regardless of the outcome,' with his sister, Aimee, adding 'I do not doubt my brother at all. I have the privileged position of knowing his strengths and his faults, as you do when you are close as we are.'
