June date set for sentencing

Omnisports

March 30, 2016 7:27 AM

South Africa's Office of Chief Justice has confirmed Oscar Pistorius will be sentenced for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp in June.

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Oscar Pistorius' sentencing for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp will begin on June 13, South Africa's Office of Chief Justice has announced.

Pistorius was initially charged with the culpable homicide of Steenkamp, whom he killed by firing shots through a locked bathroom door in February 2013, and was handed a five-year jail term.

He was released on house arrest last October after serving one fifth of his sentence, but South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in December that his initial conviction should be changed to murder - which carries a minimum jail sentence of 15 years.

Some reports had suggested the former Paralympic and Olympic athlete would be sentenced in April, however that has been denied by South African authorities.

"Sentencing procedures in the Oscar Pistorius matter will not commence on 18 April 2016," a statement read.

"The 18th of April 2016 was a date provisionally arranged pending the outcome of Mr Pistorius' application for leave to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal judgement.

"The sentencing proceeding will commence de novo, from 13 to 17 June 2016."

In January, Pistorius' legal team applied to the Constitutional Court to appeal against the charge of murder, but earlier this month it was announced that their right to such an appeal had been denied.

Pistorius, who has always maintained his innocence, claiming he thought he had shot an intruder, remains under house arrest.

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