South African prosecutors are to appeal against Oscar Pistorius’s six-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, describing it as “shockingly lenient”, in the latest twist to a legal saga that has attracted worldwide attention.

The national prosecuting authority said it would apply for leave to appeal on Thursday, after saying the sentence was an injustice that had the potential to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. It said: “The sentence of six years’ imprisonment, in all the circumstances, is disproportionate to the crime of murder committed [and] shockingly too lenient”.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who sentenced Pistorius earlier this month, has been criticised by women’s and other rights groups for accepting the defence argument that a lesser sentence than the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutor Gerrie Nel was appropriate.

Masipa said she believed there were substantial and compelling reasons for a lesser sentence, including the athlete’s remorse and the fact he believed Steenkamp was an intruder.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reeva Steenkamp. Photograph: Gallo Images/Rex Shutterstock

Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of a bathroom. The original culpable homicide conviction was increased to murder by the supreme court of appeal in December.

When Masipa handed down her decision in Pretoria’s high court, many thought it was the final chapter in the long - running case. Supporters of the Steenkamps said at the time “the law has run its course”, suggesting they would not seek an appeal.

The family said in a statement on Thursday it had “no input” in the decision.

“June and Barry [Steenkamp’s parents] have always fully supported Gerrie Nel and his team’s fight for justice for Reeva. As they have no input in the decision of the state to appeal, they are focusing their energy on the upcoming official media launch of the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation on the 19 August 2016, on what would have been Reeva’s 33rd birthday.



“Reeva was killed on the same morning she was due to deliver a speech against the abuse of woman, at a school in Johannesburg. June strives to be Reeva’s voice and continue Reeva’s passion in educating and empowering victims of domestic violence and abuse.”

Pistorius, who had the lower part of his legs amputated when he was a baby, was freed from prison last October after almost a year. He was to serve the remainder of the original five-year term under house arrest at his uncle’s house in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria.



Pistorius’s sister last week expressed her gratitude to Masipa for her sentencing ruling. “The thing I’m most grateful [for], and the thing I really appreciate, is the emphasis she made to distinguish a difference between the facts and the truth in terms of this is not a gender-based violence situation,” Aimee Pistorius said in an interview with the eNCA television news channel. “It’s a terrible accident, where Oscar had no intention of shooting Reeva.”

In an hour-long judgment, Masipa said the evidence she had heard convinced her Pistorius was not a violent person, was unlikely to reoffend and had shown remorse. The judge said she had to balance the interests of society, the accused and relatives of the victim. Pistorius, she said, was “a fallen hero, who has lost his career, and been ruined financially. He cannot be at peace.”

