A pair of Britons pleaded guilty Friday to accessing graphic mortuary footage of the body of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala. The footage was later circulated on social media in the wake of Sala’s death in a January plane crash.
The 28-year old Argentinian was flying to join Cardiff City in Wales after being transferred from Nantes in France when his plane disappeared over the English Channel. Three days later, a privately funded search turned up his body.
When a graphic image of his body appeared on social media, police launched an investigation. The probe found that Sherry Bray, the company director of a British CCTV firm, and Christopher Ashford, a member of her staff, illegally accessed the footage. Bray, according to Reuters, took photos of the footage and sent them on Facebook messenger. She also reportedly took photos of another body.
Bray pleaded guilty to three counts of computer misuse and perverting the course of justice. Ashford admitted three counts of computer misuse.
“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 traumatic and difficult time for them,” Detective Inspector Gemma Vinton said, per Reuters. “The actions of Bray and Ashford caused additional unnecessary distress and heartache.”


