Oscar Pistorius Appeal Denied

A South Africa's constitutional court has denied Oscar Pistorius the right to appeal his murder conviction. Pistorius made a last-ditch attempt to appeal against his murder conviction for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

Pistorius' manslaughter conviction for shooting dead his girlfriend was upgraded to murder by an appeals court in December. It ruled that the original trial judge had made a fundamentally flawed judgement. The judges said he should have known that death was inevitable after he fired four times into the toilet, leaving Ms Steenkamp with nowhere to hide. Luvuyo Mfaku, spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority said “The court dismissed the application for leave to appeal because there are are no prospects of success”.

The 29years old former athlete will now be sentenced for murder after South Africa's highest court dismissed his legal challenge. Pistorius faces a lengthy jail term and is on bail until his sentencing which could be set at a hearing on 18 April.

The double-amputee killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine's Day three years ago, saying he mistook her for an intruder when he shot four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.