BREAKING NEWS: Oscar Pistorius sentenced to 5 years in prison

Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to five years in prison for the death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, bring his seven month trial to conclusion.

The double amputee athlete was sentenced at Pretoria’s High Court for the killing of his Ms Steenkamp, after being cleared of murder but convicted of culpable homicide.

In her sentencing, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled a non-custodial sentence would send the wrong sentence to the community, but a long sentence would not be appropriate because it would appear to lack mercy.

She said: "Sentencing is about achieving the right balance. Sentencing is not a perfect exercise."

The judge added that Pistorius had made an "enormous contribution to society", in his charity work and in changing the public perception of disability.

Even as prosecutors said Pistorius should serve at least ten years in jail, his defence counsel have called for a community sentence or house arrest, raising the fact that the athlete would be under particular constraint to his disability and fragile mental state in a South African prison.

But Judge Masipa said she was sure prisons were well equipped to cater for special needs inmates.

Judge Masipa

Pistorius and Steenkamp

Twenty-seven year old Pistorius who became the first amputee sprinter to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games killed Ms Steenkamp on Valentines Day last year. 

Steenkamp, 29-year-old was a law graduate, a model and a reality TV star and law graduate.

In his defence, Pistorius, who fired three shots at Steenkamp through the toilet door, said he fired the shots thinking that  it was an intruder.

The toilet area where the shots were fired