Oscar Pistorius: Appeal against 'lenient' six year murder sentence rejected

A legal challenge to Oscar Pistorius’ “lenient” six-year murder sentence was today rejected for having “no reasonable prospects of success”.

A South African judge refused state prosecutors permission to appeal the Paralympic gold medallist's jail term for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

Judge Thokozile Masipa Masipa sentenced Pistorius in July but the prosecution argued that the decision was too lenient.

Pistorius' defence argued that the state was prejudiced and had dragged the case on for too long.

"I'm not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success on appeal or that another court may find differently," she said in her ruling.

"For that reason, I grant the following order: The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs."

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who had sought 15 years for Pistorius for the murder conviction, told reporters at the hearing he could not comment.

It was not immediately clear whether the state would now directly petition the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Nel has said Pistorius, who did not attend Friday's hearing, had not shown any remorse and had yet to explain why he fired the fatal shots.