Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius’s final appeal for girlfriend’s murder is rejected by top South Africa court

The imprisoned Pistorius, who killed his girlfriend in 2013, had asked for a review of his 13-year jail term, but the request was dismissed

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Oscar Pistorius' prosthetics lay on the floor as he walks on his stumps during argument in mitigation of sentence by his defense attorney Barry Roux in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, in June 2016. He has now lost his final appeal against his conviction for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Photo: Pool via AP

Published: 12:30am, 10 Apr 2018Updated: 9:22pm, 10 Apr 2018

South Africa’s highest court has rejected Oscar Pistorius’s request to appeal against his 13-year jail term for killing his girlfriend in 2013, ending the long legal battle.

The former Paralympic athlete, 31, had asked the Constitutional Court to review the sentence, which was increased to 13 years in November.

But the court ruling released on Monday said that “the application for leave to appeal is dismissed” as it was not a constitutional matter. The ruling was dated March 28.

Pistorius during is seen in court in 2016. The High Court has rejected his final appeal over the sentence for killing his girlfriend in 2013. Photo: AFP

Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 when he fired four times through the locked door of his bedroom toilet, later saying that he thought she was an intruder.

He was originally convicted of culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter – in 2014, but his conviction was upgraded to murder on appeal.

Pistorius also tried to take the murder conviction to the Constitutional Court, but it also refused to hear the matter.