Oscar Pistorius has been denied the right to appeal his murder conviction

The constitutional court in South Africa has denied Oscar Pistorius the right to appeal against his murder conviction for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in early 2013. The Guardian report his defence lawyer Andrew Fawcett has confirmed the decision and the case will now proceed directly to sentencing. He had been on bail waiting for a new sentence since December last year, when judges overturned his manslaughter sentence and found him guilty instead of culpable homicide. He made the decision to appeal in January. He is now due in court for fresh sentencing and faces a minimum jail term of 15 years (which may include time already served.) The verdict was changed after it was ruled that Pistorius would have known that whoever was behind the door in his bathroom would have died after being shot by him, especially considering his firearms training.