SA court rules prosecutors can appeal Pistorius' conviction, not sentencing

A South Africa court has ruled that prosecutors can appeal Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius' murder conviction charges but has dismissed the State's bid to appeal the double amputee's sentencing.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who had sentenced Pistorius to five years in jail for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day last year, was responding to arguments on whether to allow prosecutors in the Paralympian's case to appeal her verdict and sentence on the Olympic runner, News24 reported.

In October, Masipa convicted Pistorius of the lesser charge of culpable homicide and sentenced him to a five-year prison term, acquitting him of Steenkamp's murder. Pistorius, popularly known as Blade Runner, could be released from prison to be held under house arrest after 10 months.

Pistorius, who fatally shot Steenkamp in his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year, maintained that he thought a dangerous intruder was in the house.

However, prosecutors allege that the Blade Runner killed his girlfriend after an argument, the report added.