The six-time Paralympics gold medallist was due to discover yesterday whether he would be freed on parole or serve a longer period behind bars, but his case has been delayed for a further fortnight due to the court not being able to conclude its business in time.

He was due to be released on house arrest in August after serving ten months of a five-year term for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but this was blocked by South Africa's justice minister and the case was sent to the parole board.

Under South African law, an offender is eligible for release after serving one-sixth of a jail sentence of five years or less.

The 28-year-old double amputee says that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a bathroom door on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Prosecutors have launched an appeal against the culpable homicide conviction and say it should be upgraded to murder as he must have known the person behind the door could be killed.

That appeal is set for November at the Supreme Court.



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