Oscar Pistorius has been denied leave to try and have South Africa’s Constitutional Court overturn his murder conviction for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp just over three years ago.
This means the former paralympian faces up to 15 years in prison when he’s be sentenced next month.
ends intro
Oscar Pistorius applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court which is South Africa’s highest court.
He contends that the Supreme Court of
Appeal wrongly upgraded his manslaughter conviction to murder.
Pistorius insists he shot his lover Reeva Steenkamp in error, after mistaking her for an intruder.
The Appeal Court found his testimony was untruthful.
The National Prosecuting Authority, which opposes the application, says the Constitutional Court dismissed his bid to overturn the Appeal Court finding because it believes there are
no prospects of success.
So in the Pretoria High Court on April 18, the 29-year-old will appear before Judge Thokozile Masipa, who originally found him guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced him to five years in jail.
She will re-sentence him on the Appeal Court’s murder ruling.
This carries a minimum 15 year jail sentence.
It could be reduced to take account of time Pistorius has spent in prison.
There was no immediate response to this latest development from Steenkamp’s family.