Sydney Swan Ted Richards has accepted a reprimand and 70.31 points towards his future record for striking North Melbourne's Lindsay Thomas during the second quarter of the Swans-Kangaroos match.

Charges Laid:

Ted Richards, Sydney Swans, has been charged with a Level two striking offence against Lindsay Thomas, North Melbourne, during the second quarter of the round Four match between the Sydney Swans and North Melbourne, played at the SCG on Sunday April 22, 2012.

In summary, due to a five-year good record, he can accept a reprimand and 70.31 points towards his future record with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the North Melbourne Football Club, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level one offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction. He has an existing five-year good record, which reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 93.75 points towards his future record and a reprimand. An early plea reduces the sanction by 25 per cent to 70.30 demerit points towards his future record and a reprimand.

Other incidents Assessed:

Contact between the Sydney Swans' Kieren Jack and North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow from the second quarter of Sunday's match was assessed. The ball was bounced in the centre and landed at Swallow's feet / knee area, as the North Melbourne player was attempting to take possession of the ball. Jack was running to contest the ball and made high contact with his opponent. A free kick was paid for the contact. It was the view of the panel that Jack had no realistic alternative way to contest the ball and no further action was taken.