Oscar Pistorius to remain in prison as parole request rejected

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will not be released from prison today after his parole was again delayed.

The board met today to determine whether the 28-year-old double amputee sprinter should be released on parole after being found guilty of killing his girlfriend.

They declined his parole and no date for a future parole hearing has been set.

Pistorius was due to be released in August but his parole was blocked by Justice Minister Michael Masutha.

South African prisons frequently allow prisoners to apply for parole one-sixth of the way into their sentences due to overcrowding in jails.

Pistorius was sentenced last year to five years in prison for killing model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013, after a trial that attracted global headlines.

He was found guilty of culpable homicide - a charge equivalent to manslaughter - after saying during the trial that he shot his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.

Pistorius was due to leave prison in August to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest but he was kept behind bars after Justice Minister Michael Masutha made a last minute intervention blocking his release.

Justice Masutha said the parole board had made a mistake when they approved Pistorius for parole before he had served a sixth of his five-year sentence.

Reeva Steenkamp's parents, who are convinced Pistorius murdered their daughter in a rage, have strongly opposed the athlete's possible release, telling Australian television in August he had ruined their lives.

"How can 10 months be enough? He killed her. He admits he killed her. She's dead. Why didn't he just let her walk away? Why?" Reeva's mother June Steenkamp said in the interview.

Even if Pistorius is freed from prison and placed under house arrest, he could find himself back behind bars for a minimum of 15 years if an appeal by prosecutors next month is successful.

They are pursuing a murder conviction and a longer sentence, arguing that Pistorius deliberately killed Steenkamp after an argument

The Supreme Court of Appeal will hear the prosecution's appeal on November 3.