Oscar Pistorius starts serving 5-year prison term

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius was taken away in a police van with barred windows today to start serving a five-year prison sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Delivering her sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa cited the "gross negligence" the double-amputee Olympic runner showed when he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.

Pistorius, who had cried and wretched during his trial, was unemotional as he stood to hear his sentence. His prison term begins immediately and he was led down a flight of stairs and toward holding cells before leaving the South African courthouse in the armored vehicle.

Pistorius could be released after 10 months in jail to serve the remainder under house arrest, according to legal experts.

Steenkamp's parents were also in court to hear the sentence and the dead model's mother, June, said justice had been done. A close friend of Steenkamp, Gina Myers, said: "I really don't think any of us will heal anytime soon ... there will always be questions."