The Argentinian player’s body was found three days after his plane crashed into the English Channel.
Two employees from a British CCTV company have pled guilty to illegally accessing and sharing footage of soccer star Emiliano Sala after he was killed in a plane crash.
Christopher Ashford, 62, and Sherry Bray, 49, admitted capturing the grim footage from a mortuary on their phones, which was later shared on social media.
The 28-year-old Argentine died just hours after being signed to Welsh Championship club Cardiff City. He was flying from his previous club Nantes in France in January when his charter plane plummeted into the English Channel. His body was only found three days later after his family privately funded a search; the pilot’s body was never found.
In February police launched an investigation after graphic images of the post-mortem began circulating online.
They raided the offices of the closed circuit TV firm contracted to monitor the Bournemouth Mortuary at night. They discovered Bray, the company’s director, and her employee, Ashford, had illegally accessed the footage and taken photographs, which were then forwarded on Facebook Messenger.
They both pled guilty to three counts of computer misuse each; Bray also pled guilty to perverting the course of justice, after admitting he instructing Ashford to "delete your pics", doing the same on her own phone, as well as wiping the post-mortem cameras from the live feed facility.
"It has been the two families who have been at the forefront of our minds throughout the investigation; they have been significantly impacted at what was already a difficult and traumatic time for them,’ Detective Inspector Gemma Vinton said. "The actions of Bray and Ashford caused additional unnecessary distress and heartache, and I hope the families will now be able to concentrate on grieving for their loved ones."
The pair were released on bail and will be sentenced on September 20.
Sala had been signed for $18million, and was en route to meet his teammates when the tragedy struck.
The flight had been scheduled to depart at 9am on January 21, but was delayed until 7pm. It later emerged that pilot David Ibbotson was colorblind and was not qualified to fly at night, according to BBC.
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