The 28-year-old six-times Paralympics gold medallist was jailed for five years in 2014 for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, but has been battling through the courts in an attempt to be released early.

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

However, a hearing of the parole review board today – the body which makes a final decision on parole matters – decided to defer the decision back to the initial parole board, meaning the blade runner will stay behind bars.

No new date for a hearing has been announced. 

Pistorius was due to be released in August, but Justice Minister Michael Masutha blocked that decision after describing it as "premature". 

Meanwhile, on November 2, prosecutors seeking to upgrade the athlete's culpable homicide conviction to murder will present their case in court, when Pistorius could still be in jail.

It is claimed that Judge Thokozile Masipa made mistakes during his trial and his punishment wasn't harsh enough.

Options available include finding him guilty of murder, ordering a new trial or deciding that Masipa's original verdict should stand.

Pistorius claims he mistook Miss Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a bathroom door on Valentine’s Day in 2013, but prosecutors say he must have known the person behind the door could be killed.



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September 2015: Prosecutors hoping to upgrade Oscar Pistorius' conviction to murder are handed court date
September 2015: Oscar Pistorius' parole hearing postponed for two weeks
August 2015: Parole board review into Oscar Pistorius set for September 18 
August 2015: Pistorius to remain in prison after South African Justice Department rule early release as "premature"
August 2015: Prosecutors file papers calling for Pistorius murder charge