South African prosecutors to appeal against Oscar Pistorius 5 years conviction

South African prosecutors say they are going to appeal against the conviction and sentence given to athlete Oscar Pistorius for killing his girlfriend.

Prosecutors will appeal the verdict and sentencing of Oscar Pistorius, who was handed a 5-year prison term after being convicted of culpable homicide.

Last week, Pistorius began serving a five year prison sentence for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, although he could be out in 10 months. Pistorius' family have said that he will not appeal.

The athlete was also given a three-year suspended sentence for firing a gun in a restaurant.

After he was cleared of murder, Nathi Mncube, a spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority, said on Monday that the next step is to file papers in court.

"The appeal on conviction is based on the question of law," the national prosecuting spokesman said.

"The prosecutors are now preparing the necessary papers in order to be able to file within the next few days," Nathi Mncube from the National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement.

Details of the appeal have not yet released, but South African criminal lawyers have expressed shock that Masipa found Pistorius could not have foreseen that someone would die when he fired the shots.

Legal experts complained that it could open the door to systematic abuse of the legal system, or to people believing it would be okay to shoot in an irresponsible manner.

South Africans had also criticised Masipa's five-year sentence as too lenient after it emerged Pistorius may be eligible for parole in less than a year.

Pistorius’ legal team had argued against a custodial sentence, calling a witness to detail the dangers of drugs, violence and poor sanitation at South African prisons.

Annette Vergeer, a probation officer, told the court he could be subjected to gang rape and incarceration would “break him as a person”.

But the prosecution called for a 10-year sentence, arguing anything but prison would be a “shockingly inappropriate punishment” for taking Reeva Steenkamp’s life.