Pistorius will learn his fate tomorrow when he is sentenced in the Pretoria High Court by Judge Thokozile Masipa for murder.
The likelihood of Pistorius being able to appeal his sentence is also slim, according to law academics, who believe he will receive at least 12 years’ direct imprisonment.
While the year Pistorius spent behind bars for his culpable homicide conviction and the rehabilitation programmes he underwent must be taken into account by Masipa, experts doubt he will get off lightly.
The conviction was overturned and changed to murder by the Supreme Court of Appeal – a decision upheld by the Constitutional Court.
The Northern Provinces Law Society’s criminal law committee chairman, Dr Llewelyn Curlewis, said the parameters Masipa had to work with in sentencing him for murder were a minimum of 15 years’ imprisonment for a first-time offender.
