South African Olympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius, has been sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
The verdict comes after his initial five-year conviction for manslaughter was changed to murder last December on appeal.
He was taken immediately to jail. Both the prosecution and defence can appeal.
Pistorius, 29, shot Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013.
He admitted shooting her, but said he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder and acted out of fear.
In an hour-long session, Judge Thokozile Masipa said mitigating circumstances, such as rehabilitation and remorse, outweighed aggravating factors for deviating from the prescribed 15-year sentence for murder.
“Although a custodial sentence is a proper sentence, I am of a view that a long term of imprisonment will not serve justice in this matter.
“The accused has already served a sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment, he is a first offender and, considering the facts of this matter, he is not likely to re-offend.”
She added: “The life of the accused will never be the same. He is a fallen hero.”
The judge ordered a recess to enable prosecutors and Pistorius’ lawyers decide if they wanted to appeal the sentence.
Dressed in a dark suit, Pistorius listened to the judge mostly with his head down.
Ms Steenkamp’s parents, Barry and June, sat on the other side of the courtroom, which was packed with journalists and observers.
Pistorius has already served one year in jail.
He hugged his sister Aimee, and his brother Carl, before he was taken down to the cells after hearing his sentence.
The six-time Paralympic gold medallist made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic “blades”.
He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.
Pretoria High Court heard last month that Pistorius was a “broken” man who struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
