Orlando Pirates have provided an update on the latest incident involving star attacker Thembinkosi Lorch after he found himself on the wrong side of the law.
Reports on Tuesday suggested that Lorch has been found guilty of assaulting Nokuphiwa Mathithibala, who is his ex-girlfriend, in an incident confirmed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to have taken place almost three years ago.
Read: Court Finds Lorch Guilty Of Assault
The incident took place in 2020 and the case was subsequently opened at the Midrand Police Station by the complainant in September of that year.
Following the judgment which was handed down at the Randburg Magistrate's Court yesterday, Lorch is expected to appear in court for sentencing on July 23.
Read: Big Moves Pending For Mendieta Co…
In their statement in 2020 after Lorch was first charged, the Soweto giants were clear in their position against incidents to do with gender-based violence.
"This country has witnessed some of the most appalling cases of GBV and we do not take this matter lightly, however we need to respect the process undertaken by the authorities and allow the law to take its course," stated Bucs on the club's official website at the time, in part.
Soccer star Thembinkosi Lorch has been found guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, by the Randburg Magistrates' Court. pic.twitter.com/3wmEAVyq8v
— NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) June 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Pirates have since broken silence on the matter and confirmed on the club's official website that they are waiting on Lorch to provide the club with the full details of his conviction and the sentencing date.
"Orlando Pirates Football Club notes the decision handed down by the Randburg Magistrate Court regarding Mr Thembinkosi Lorch on Tuesday. As a Club we reiterate our stance against violence perpetrated against women and children and as a result when this matter came to light in 2020, the club carried out its own investigation:
1. Following our internal investigations, the Club charged Mr Lorch with serious misconduct. He pleaded guilty to the charge and the Club imposed a sanction of a monetary fine and ordered him to undergo anger management therapy.
2. Mr Lorch also informed the Club that he had instructed attorneys to assist him with the criminal charges against him and they intended to approach the Director of Public Prosecutions ("DPP") to make representations regarding the charges against him so that he could go through a diversion programme. He further advised that he was attending therapy with Dr. Nomsa Nkuna-Boikanyo as part of his rehabilitation.
The Club approved that he completes therapy with Dr Nkuna-Boikanyo instead of running a parallel process organised by the Club.
3. Mr Lorch informed us that he attended the anger management therapy and completed the prescribed number of sessions. Since then, Mr Lorch has not been involved any similar incident or an incident involving violence. We are confident that the anger management therapy was an appropriate corrective measure.
4. However, Mr Lorch's representations to the DPP were not successful and the criminal proceedings continued. Today, 6 June 2023, Mr Lorch was found guilty of assault (gender-based violence) and will be sentenced in due course.
We currently do not have the full details of the conviction and the sentencing date and have requested Mr Lorch to provide these details.
Orlando Pirates Football Club will not make any further comment until this process is complete.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
You must be Sign In to read and post comments.
