Reeva Steenkamp’s parents say they are not seeking “revenge” against Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter, even though they believe the sentence imposed by the judge was too lenient.

The disgraced South African athlete was on Tuesday jailed for a maximum of five years for the culpable homicide of his model girlfriend on Valentine’s Day last year, but could be out of prison and under house arrest in 10 months.

The 27-year-old was also given a suspended three-year sentence for a firearms charge.

Speaking to British broadcaster ITV on Wednesday, June Steenkamp said the family had accepted the decision, even though some members were “not entirely happy”.

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Pistorius, who became the first double amputee Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics, testified that he fired four shots through a locked bathroom at his Pretoria home after he mistakenly believed Reeva Steenkamp was an intruder.

She sustained what Judge Thokozile Masipa described as “catastrophic” injuries when she was hit in the hip, arm and head from Pistorius’ 9mm pistol.

Looking pale and holding her husband Barry’s hand, June Steenkamp said: “We don’t want revenge, we want a fair punishment under the circumstances on his disabilities.

Oscar Pistorius is led away after being sentenced to five years in jail. Photo: Getty

“We wouldn’t have wanted him to go to jail and be abused and I feel that he will realise that he can’t go around doing that, he can’t kill someone like that.”

She added: “I think the law must take its course, we have to accept what has happened.

“If there is an appeal, well, there is an appeal. There is nothing we can change about that. But it will be difficult to go on even further, again.

“We may not feel that justice has been done, but we have just got to accept what the judge decided.

“Not everyone is entirely happy … the facts that she (the judge) had before her maybe weren’t enough. But we have to live.”

Her husband Barry said the family had to go along with what Judge Masipa had decided.

“We have gone along with the judge and her decision,” he said.

“Only Oscar knows whether that sentence is acceptable to him. I’ve got my feelings to the whole thing. But we do accept what the judge handed down.”

– with agencies