Oscar Pistorius was today sensationally convicted of murdering Reeva Steenkamp and now faces being jailed until he is well into his forties.
The Olympic sprinter was not in the Supreme Court of Appeal this morning to hear the damning decision of a five-strong panel of judges.
Pistorius, 29, will now return to court in the New Year to face a possible 15-year jail sentence for shooting Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home early on Valentine's Day 2013.
The tragic killing of Miss Steenkamp, a law graduate turned cover girl, at the hands of one of the world’s greatest sports stars was described as ‘a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions’ by Justice Eric Leach, who read a summary of the court’s findings.
During the hearing, the court heard Pistorius was considered to have been a 'very poor' witness whose version of events changed 'substantially'.
Justice Leach also said the original judge's understanding of 'dolus eventualis' - awareness of the likely outcome of an action - to be 'confusing in various respects'.
Pistorius’ worst fears were realised 35 minutes into the hearing when Justice Leach ruled that the athlete must have foreseen that he might kill the person behind his toilet door, given the number and type of bullets he used.
‘The identify of the victim is irrelevant in this case,’ the judge read, adding that Pistorius ‘gambled with that person’s life.’
In rejecting Pistorius’ attempt to defend his actions at his trial, the panel found that the sprinter failed to offer ‘an acceptable explanation for having done so’.
Recounting how Pistorius approached the bathroom ready to fire with a heavy calibre weapon, Justice Leach stated the sprinter had 'never offered a credible explanation for having done so'.
He dismissed a possible retrial and making no further order in the interests of justice, which required a person 'should be convicted of the crimes they have committed'.
The ruling was a devastating indictment on Judge Masipa, who was not only found to have made ‘serious errors’ in applying the law, but failed in her task by ignoring swathes of key evidence in the case.
Referring throughout to Pistorius’ victim as ‘Reeva’, which Justice Leach said ‘was to preserve her humanity’, the judge ruled that she had no chance of escaping her lover’s bullets.
‘Almost all the shots fired through the door would inevitably have struck the deceased. There was nowhere to hide.’
Pistorius, who said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he opened fire with his pistol, was released from prison on parole in October after serving one year of his five-year sentence.
Pistorius may now also make his own appeal to South Africa's Constitutional Court - the country's highest court.
But defence lawyers say he cannot afford further legal battles, having already paid huge legal bills.
The double amputee could be middle-aged by the time he tastes freedom again.
The reputation of Judge Masipa will have suffered a massive blow by the decision of her senior jurists, who needed just a simple majority to overturn Pistorius’ culpable homicide conviction and replace it with murder.
Nevertheless, it is she who will now resentence the athlete, and the time he has already served, plus any mitigating factors put forward by his lawyers, will be taken into consideration.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who was not in court today, persuaded the appeal court that she had gravely misapplied the law in acquitting Pistorius of murdering the cover girl.
One of the five appeal judges began reading out the verdict at 9:45am local time (7:45GMT) at the court in Bloemfontein, South Africa's judicial capital.
During a one-day hearing at the appeal court in November, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that Pistorius intended to kill whoever was behind the locked toilet door through which he fired four bullets.
Pistorius was released on October 19 to spend the remainder of his sentence under house arrest at his uncle's mansion in the capital Pretoria.
His trial attracted worldwide attention as he denied killing Steenkamp in a rage after the couple had gone to bed at his house in Pretoria.
'I was overcome with fear,' he said while in the dock, describing how he thought he heard an intruder in the bathroom.
He grabbed his gun, and rushed without his prostheses to the bathroom.
'Before I knew it, I'd fired four shots at the door,' he said, adding that he ran back to the bed only to find that Steenkamp was not there.
Pistorius killed the 29-year-old model and law graduate at the peak of his fame, following his historic performance in London in 2012 when he became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level.
A Pistorius family spokesman said no statement would be released after the verdict this morning.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...erturned-MURDER-conviction.html#ixzz3tFVEvFh7
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The Olympic sprinter was not in the Supreme Court of Appeal this morning to hear the damning decision of a five-strong panel of judges.
Pistorius, 29, will now return to court in the New Year to face a possible 15-year jail sentence for shooting Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home early on Valentine's Day 2013.
The tragic killing of Miss Steenkamp, a law graduate turned cover girl, at the hands of one of the world’s greatest sports stars was described as ‘a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions’ by Justice Eric Leach, who read a summary of the court’s findings.
During the hearing, the court heard Pistorius was considered to have been a 'very poor' witness whose version of events changed 'substantially'.
Justice Leach also said the original judge's understanding of 'dolus eventualis' - awareness of the likely outcome of an action - to be 'confusing in various respects'.
Pistorius’ worst fears were realised 35 minutes into the hearing when Justice Leach ruled that the athlete must have foreseen that he might kill the person behind his toilet door, given the number and type of bullets he used.
‘The identify of the victim is irrelevant in this case,’ the judge read, adding that Pistorius ‘gambled with that person’s life.’
In rejecting Pistorius’ attempt to defend his actions at his trial, the panel found that the sprinter failed to offer ‘an acceptable explanation for having done so’.
Recounting how Pistorius approached the bathroom ready to fire with a heavy calibre weapon, Justice Leach stated the sprinter had 'never offered a credible explanation for having done so'.
He dismissed a possible retrial and making no further order in the interests of justice, which required a person 'should be convicted of the crimes they have committed'.
The ruling was a devastating indictment on Judge Masipa, who was not only found to have made ‘serious errors’ in applying the law, but failed in her task by ignoring swathes of key evidence in the case.
Referring throughout to Pistorius’ victim as ‘Reeva’, which Justice Leach said ‘was to preserve her humanity’, the judge ruled that she had no chance of escaping her lover’s bullets.
‘Almost all the shots fired through the door would inevitably have struck the deceased. There was nowhere to hide.’
Pistorius, who said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he opened fire with his pistol, was released from prison on parole in October after serving one year of his five-year sentence.
Pistorius may now also make his own appeal to South Africa's Constitutional Court - the country's highest court.
But defence lawyers say he cannot afford further legal battles, having already paid huge legal bills.
The double amputee could be middle-aged by the time he tastes freedom again.
The reputation of Judge Masipa will have suffered a massive blow by the decision of her senior jurists, who needed just a simple majority to overturn Pistorius’ culpable homicide conviction and replace it with murder.
Nevertheless, it is she who will now resentence the athlete, and the time he has already served, plus any mitigating factors put forward by his lawyers, will be taken into consideration.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who was not in court today, persuaded the appeal court that she had gravely misapplied the law in acquitting Pistorius of murdering the cover girl.
One of the five appeal judges began reading out the verdict at 9:45am local time (7:45GMT) at the court in Bloemfontein, South Africa's judicial capital.
During a one-day hearing at the appeal court in November, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that Pistorius intended to kill whoever was behind the locked toilet door through which he fired four bullets.
Pistorius was released on October 19 to spend the remainder of his sentence under house arrest at his uncle's mansion in the capital Pretoria.
His trial attracted worldwide attention as he denied killing Steenkamp in a rage after the couple had gone to bed at his house in Pretoria.
'I was overcome with fear,' he said while in the dock, describing how he thought he heard an intruder in the bathroom.
He grabbed his gun, and rushed without his prostheses to the bathroom.
'Before I knew it, I'd fired four shots at the door,' he said, adding that he ran back to the bed only to find that Steenkamp was not there.
Pistorius killed the 29-year-old model and law graduate at the peak of his fame, following his historic performance in London in 2012 when he became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level.
A Pistorius family spokesman said no statement would be released after the verdict this morning.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...erturned-MURDER-conviction.html#ixzz3tFVEvFh7
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