Prosecutors who say Oscar Pistorius should have been found guilty of murder rather than culpable homicide can launch an appeal.

The athlete was convicted in October of the culpable homicide, or manslaughter, of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and sentenced to five years in prison.

But prosecutors said the verdict was wrong, and asked Judge Thokozile Masipa for permission to appeal and seek a murder conviction.

This morning she granted their request, saying: "I cannot say the prospect of success at the Supreme Court is remote."

She had previously found the double amputee not guilty of murder, ruling he did not intend to kill Ms Steenkamp when he fired his gun four times through a bathroom door.

Pistorius claimed he mistook Miss Steenkamp for an intruder when he killed her on Valentine's Day last year.

"Our argument was that he should have been convicted of murder, and then would have been sentenced to a minimum sentence of 15 years. That is of course what we would like to happen," the National Prosecuting Authority's Nathi Ncube said.

The Supreme Court of Appeal will now review the judge's application of the law during the trial and decide whether Pistorius is guilty of murder.

As his conviction stands, Pistorius could end up spending only 10 months of his jail term at Pretoria's central prison, before being placed under house arrest at his uncle's home.

The punishment had previously been described as "shockingly light" by prosecutors.

Judge Masipa refused to allow the prosecutors to appeal the sentence, but if Pistorius were found guilty of murder he is likely to get a more severe punishment.

Originally posted at 8.03am