Celebrity Gossip

South African court changes Oscar Pistorius verdict to murder

Published

4 years ago

December 3, 2015

South Africa’s top appeals court ruled on Thursday that paralympian Oscar Pistorius’ earlier conviction be scaled up from manslaughter to murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp two years ago.

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Judge Thokozile Masipa, who handed Pistorius his original sentence, will re-sentence the Paralympic champion at a later date.

In South Africa, a murder conviction usually carries a minimum sentence of 15 years, although Pistorius’ lawyers are likely to argue that his physical disability and mental stress should be considered as mitigating circumstances.

The announcement marks the latest twist in a protracted legal saga that began with Steenkamp’s death on Valentine’s Day 2013.

Pistorius has argued that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot four times through the locked door of his bedroom toilet, killing the model and law graduate.

Last year he was given a five-year jail sentence for “culpable homicide”, the equivalent of a manslaughter verdict.

But prosecutors argued that the double-amputee runner should be convicted of murder and their appeal was heard on November 3.

‘THE JUDGE POINTED TO SERIOUS FLAWS IN THE ORIGINAL RULING’

Pistorius was released from jail on October 19 after a parole board agreed to place him under correctional supervision, a form of house arrest, in line with guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars.

Reporting from Cape Town, FRANCE 24’s Ayesha Ismail noted that the five judges on the appeals panel unanimously approved Thursday’s dramatic legal reversal, read out by judge Eric Leach.

The judge described the athlete’s testimony in 2013 as “untruthful” and delivered a damning indictment of the original verdict.

“Leach said Judge Masipa had made serious errors of law and that the court did not properly consider all the evidence” during the trial, Ismail reported.

Officials said Pistorius would remain on parole under house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria until he is re-sentenced.

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Celebrity Gossip

Song alert: Beckie 256 returns in double release

Published

11 hours ago

June 23, 2019

Big Eye

Singer Beckie 256 has a had a come back after some time in the chill zone. The female singer has released two songs that could see her retain her spot on the dance floor making her fans and music lovers fall prey.

Ogamba Otya and Sikuwalana are the two latest releases from Beckie 256. While Sikuwalana is a duo featuring producer and singet Daddy Andre, Ogamba Otya is a single and Beckie 256 will make you grooves to this.

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Watch Ogamba Otya lyrics here https://youtu.be/z-kvIw1KKtQ

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Celebrity Gossip

I want to be like Eddy Kenzo, Ethiopia’s Tomy Plus breaks into East Africa

Published

12 hours ago

June 23, 2019

Big Eye

Not so often do we have artistes from the horn of Africa penetrate into East Africa, after Eritrean singer Sammy is Tomy Plus who has gone against all odds to break into the very competitive East African music industry. Tomy Plus despite his short stay in the industry is impressively amazing as two of his many songs “She don’t like” and “Zena Larigat” are enjoying Massive airplay in Uganda and East Africa, not something easy.

Tomy Plus is greatly aided by his dancing talent exhibited in his videos and makes them appealing to his fans. Tomy is slowly gaining favour and following into East Africa and Uganda particularly.

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Who is Tomy Plus?

Tomy Plus real name Tomas Hailu is Ethopian aged 27 and is both a singer and dancer. His singing career started three years ago and has since done so many songs but most notably She don’t like and Zena Larigat that were done in Uganda.