The 28-year-old footballer had just signed for Cardiff City when the private plane he was travelling in crashed into the English Channel north of Guernsey on 21 January.

His body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane on 6 February and a post-mortem examination was carried out the following day at Bournemouth Mortuary.

  • Flowers and tributes are placed near a giant picture of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala

A police investigation was launched after an image purporting to show Sala’s body was widely circulated on social media.It was understood to show his torso, with a distinctive tattoo on his arm, mid-examination.

Sherry Bray, 49, and Christopher Ashford, 62, appeared at Swindon Crown Court on Friday where they admitted accessing CCTV footage of Sala’s post-mortem examination.

Ashford, of Calne, admitted three counts of securing unauthorised access to computer material between 9 and 11 February this year.

Bray, of Corsham, admitted three counts of securing unauthorised access to computer material between April last year and February this year.

Two of these related to her using using the CCTV equipment at Bournemouth Mortuary to access the post-mortem examination of Sala in February, while the third related to the autopsy of another person Andrew Latcham.