Oscar Pistorius’ lawyers want the State’s application to appeal his six-year prison sentence dismissed with costs‚ arguing that the appeal is without merit and inappropriate.

The Paralympian athlete was initially convicted of culpable homicide and received a five-year sentence for shooting dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013‚ but the Supreme Court of Appeal last year ruled that the conviction should be murder and that he should be re-sentenced.

Judge Thokozila Masipa then sentenced him to six years in jail‚ which the state described as shockingly too lenient” and said it would take the matter to the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein.

But in court papers filed on Thursday‚ Pistorius’ lawyers argued that the State had disregarded the fact that he had already served 12 months in prison‚ plus spent seven months under strict house arrest before being placed under strict bail conditions pending his sentencing.

They said that if the state took into account the punishment Pistorius had already served‚ it amounted to an effective eight-year prison sentence‚ which was anything but lenient.

The defence lawyers described the state’s appeal as an insult to Judge Masipa’s judgment.

The matter is expected to be heard next Friday.