FORMER ZIMBABWE INTERNATIONAL star Peter Ndlovu has pleaded not guilty of culpable homicide at the start of his trial after a car accident last year killed his brother and a family friend, his lawyer said today.
“The trial started today and Peter Ndlovu pleaded not guilty,” Harrison Nkomo, Ndlovu’s lawyer, told AFP by telephone from the resort town of Victoria Falls where the trial is taking place.
Ndlovu, who was at the wheel, suffered serious injuries in the crash which killed his elder brother Adam and family friend Nomqhele Tshili in December last year.
The accident happened as the brothers were travelling near Victoria Falls, 876 km (544 miles) west of the capital Harare. Ndlovu, 39, was taken to a hospital in the country’s second city Bulawayo and took weeks to recuperate.
He played 100 times for Zimbabwe while featuring for Coventry City, Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United during a 13-year stay in England. He is currently the assistant coach of the Zimbabwe national team and was on the bench for their match against Egypt recently.
Last year Ndlovu’s former club Coventry said they were “saddened” about the tragic accident involving their former striker. Ndlovu scored 39 goals in 176 appearances for Coventry.
Adam Ndlovu, 42, spent seven seasons playing in Switzerland and was also a former Zimbabwe international, scoring 34 goals for the national team. He was coaching Chicken Inn FC in the Zimbabwe Premier League at the time of his death.
