A man and a woman have been jailed for illegally accessing footage of Emiliano Sala's post-mortem examination.

Sherry Bray and Christopher Ashford were sentenced after images of the footballer's body in the mortuary were widely shared on social media, just days after being recovered from the English Channel.

The pair were branded "wicked and evil" by Sala's sister who said she will "never erase the images" from her head.

Image: Emiliano Sala died when the light aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the English Channel

Bray was jailed at Swindon Crown Court on Monday for 14 months, while Ashford was sentenced to five months imprisonment.

Judge Peter Crabtree told them: "You were both driven by morbid curiosity.


"You have both abused your positions in quite an appalling way."

Argentine striker Sala had just signed for Cardiff City when the plane he was travelling in crashed into the Channel, north of Guernsey, on 21 January.

The 28-year-old's body was recovered on 6 February and a post-mortem examination took place at Bournemouth Borough Mortuary the following day.

The court heard Bray, the director of Camera Security Services Limited in Chippenham, and her employee Ashford accessed footage of the procedure being carried out on Sala.

Image: Bray sent the photo of Sala's body to her daughter on Facebook Messenger

Bray had sent a message to night worker Ashford, a grandfather of four, before his shift, which said: "There's a nice one on the table for you to watch when you're next in."

Both replayed the clip during separate shifts before Bray, 49, took a picture of it on her mobile phone and sent it to her daughter on Facebook Messenger, leading to it being circulated on social media.

After realising that police were investigating, Bray deleted the file from her phone and asked Ashford, 62, to do the same.

Image: Ashford was sentenced to five months imprisonment

Evidence from Bray's phone also revealed that she had taken a picture of another body in the mortuary, a man called Andrew Latcham who had previously died in non-suspicious circumstances.

Robert Welling, prosecuting, said Bray had a "pivotal role" in setting a culture at her workplace where "both she and members of staff would watch as and when autopsies were on the mortuary CCTV footage".

He added: "A culture had developed whereby it appears in some ways it was actively encouraged."

In a statement directed at Bray in court, Mr Latcham's son Richard said: "Is nothing sacred? Why would you do such a thing? Such a cruel and unnecessary act."

Forensic pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the court he was not aware that security cameras in the mortuary were able to film post-mortem examinations.

He said had he known they were recording procedures, he would "not allow that to take place", adding that it was a "flagrant breach of medical confidentiality".

Bray, from Corsham in Wiltshire, and Ashford, from Calne, Wiltshire, each admitted three counts of computer misuse at Swindon Crown Court in August.

Bray also admitted perverting the course of justice by instructing Ashford to "delete your pics", as well as deleting the post-mortem cameras from the live feed camera facility and deleting the mortuary image of Sala from her phone.

Ashford has since had his employment terminated by Camera Security Services Limited, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday, Sala's sister Romina said: "I have seen photos of Emiliano's body leaked on Instagram, and I cannot believe there are people so wicked and evil who could do that.

Image: Sala's sister Romina was pictured visiting Cardiff City Stadium in January

"I tried to keep images off social networks. My mother could not see those horrible photos. I was sad as people were making jokes about it.

"I'll never erase the images from my head. My brother and mother can never forget about this. It's hard for me to live with this image."

The body of Sala - who signed for Cardiff in a club record £15m deal - was discovered inside the aircraft wreckage following a privately-funded search.

Image: Sala, pictured playing for Nantes, signed for Cardiff City for a club record £15m

The body of pilot David Ibbotson has never been found.

Following the defendants' guilty pleas, Detective Inspector Gemma Vinton said Sala's family had been "significantly impacted" by the case.

The Crown Prosecution Service described the actions of Bray and Ashford as "truly appalling".