Ten years behind bars will satisfy society
It was shameless how Oscar Pistorius, who had fought tooth and nail to compete with abled athletes, had used his disability to escape a prison sentence, the State argued in court this morning.
The minimum prison term that will satisfy society is ten years’ imprisonment, as Oscar Pistorius had been so negligent when he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp that it bordered on direct intent, advocate Gerrie Nel, representing the State, argued.
He said that in convicting Pistorius on a charge of culpable homicide, the court had already given the athlete the benefit of the doubt regarding his disability and anxiousness on the night of the shooting in February last year.
Nel stressed that it would be shockingly inappropriate to sentence the bilateral amputee to correctional supervision, as it would mean that he would merely live in a luxurious home in Waterkloof and leave the house whenever it suited him to do so. “We must jealously guard against society losing faith in our legal system, and we should not fail Reeva Steenkamp’s parents,” Nel said, adding that he understood the need for non-custodial sentences in some cases but stressed that Pistorius’ case was not one of them.
Saying he found it hard not to get emotional, Nel argued that there could be nothing worse than losing a child in a violent death. “She died a horrific and violent death. She was innocent and did absolutely nothing to contribute to her death,” he said, adding that he could not even begin to imagine what she must have gone through in that toilet cubicle after she was first hit in her hip and thereafter three times more.
According to Nel, Pistorius gave a “plethora of versions” of the events that night but what remained a fact was that he had been grossly negligent and had used excessive force to such an extent that it bordered on dolus directus (direct intent). He was also not an honest witness, Nel said.
“A man who fought tooth and nail to compete with abled athletes is now shamelessly using his disability when it suits him,” Nel said in reaction to arguments that Pistorius would not cope with his disability in a prison environment. Nel said Pistorius’ home had no railings for disabled people in either the shower, toilet or bath but now that he might go to prison, he suddenly needed railings. “It is disingenious.” He said that there should be no doubt in the court’s mind that the prison facilities could cater to the needs of someone with Pistorius’ disability and that the court should reject, with contempt, the suggestion that his prostheses would be taken away from him in jail.
The court has been adjourned until Tuesday when Judge Thokozile Masipa will sentence Pistorius.
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Oscar to hear his fate on Tuesday
