Businessman Henderson charged over Emilano Sala crash
A man has pleaded guilty to one charge and not guilty to another in relation to the plane crash in which Emiliano Sala died.
David Henderson, 66, has pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation.
Henderson, of Hotham, East Yorkshire, pleaded guilty when he asked to be rearraigned on the eve of his trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Henderson is alleged to have arranged the flight carrying 28-year-old Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson, 59, which crashed north of Guernsey in January 2019.
The single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft was bringing the striker, who was involved in a multimillion-pound transfer deal, from Nantes in France to Cardiff where he had signed for the Bluebirds, then a Premier League club.
The body of Sala was recovered from the seabed the following month, but neither the body of Mr Ibbotson, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, nor the plane’s wreckage have been recovered.
Sala, 28, had completed a multi-million-pound move from Nantes to Cardiff City when he was involved in the fatal crash in January 2019.
The plane was discovered a couple of weeks later after an online appeal started by Sala’s agent raised £324,000 for a private search led by marine scientist and oceanographer David Mearns.
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Mearns’ ship, the Geo Ocean III, began searching a four-square-mile area of the English Channel north of Guernsey.
An inquiry into Mr Ibbotson’s death is scheduled for next February, after the conclusion of Mr Henderson’s trial.
Sala’s family will not be attending Henderson’s trial in person after lawyer Daniel Machover confirmed their status to the PA news agency.
Henderson is currently on bail, and his trial is expected to last around two weeks.