South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has had his jail term for killing his girlfriend, Ms Steenkamp, increased to 13 years and five months.

Pistorius was initially handed a five-year prison sentence for manslaughter in 2014 before he was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.

Prosecutors had insisted that the six-year term given to him for murdering his girlfriend was “shockingly light” but the lower court justified the sentence by citing mitigating circumstances like remorse and rehabilitation.

According to the court, those circumstances outweigh factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.

Pistorius, who claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar, has now been handed the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.

The judgement was delivered by the South African court of Appeal in Bloemfoentein.

A spokesman for Ms Steenkamp’s family while speaking on the new development said the ruling “verified there was justice”