At the culmination of one of the most watched murder trials in recent history, the 27-year-old disabled sprinter was led away by police officers to holding cells beneath the courtroom in Pretoria.

Pistorius wiped his eyes as Judge Thokozile Masipa handed down the prison sentence for culpable homicide. There was no immediate reaction from members of his family, or from relatives of Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model.

She died almost instantly when Pistorius fired four shots through a bathroom door at his luxury Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year, having mistaken her for an intruder.

The athlete, known as 'Blade Runner' because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, became one of the biggest names in world athletics at the London 2012 Olympics when he reached the semifinals of the 400m against able-bodied athletes.(KH)