Judge Thokozile Masipa’s  rejected the State’s bid for leave to appeal the six-year jail sentence for murder she eventually  imposed on Pistorius.

ends intro

It was Judge Thokozile Masipa who found Oscar Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide and sent him to jail for five year  years.

The Appeal Court overturned that last December and found the legless athlete guilty of murder – giving rise to the  heavier sentence she imposed.

She pointed out that time that there was not a shred of evidence that Pistorius knew when he was firing through a toilet door that his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was on the other side.

Pistorius’s defence has been that he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

Masipa said in the Pretoria High Court today (Friday) that she’s  not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success for an appeal. She dismissed with costs the application for leave to appeal.

Earlier, Barry Roux, for Pistorius, argued that the State was merely dragging out legal processes and subjecting the former Paralympian to continued uncertainty.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that deviating from the prescribed 15-year minimum sentence for murder induces a sense of shock.

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