Oscar Pistorius found guilty of murder appeal court rules

A South African appeals court has convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court's conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting his girlfriend to death in 2013.

Justice Lorimer Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court Thursday in Bloemfontein and said the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, should impose sentence.

The South African National Prosecuting Authority has reportedly said that Pistorius will remain under correctional supervision – that is, under house arrest at his uncle’s home – until he appears for re-sentencing before the high court in Pretoria.

No date has been set for that hearing.

This means Oscar Pistorius will not be returning immediately to prison. Reporters have now been given paper copies of the full appeal court ruling.