Emiliano Sala: David Henderson pleads guilty to one charge ahead of trial

A man has pleaded guilty to a charge relating to the flight in which footballer Emiliano Sala died.

David Henderson, 66, admitted attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation.

Henderson, of Hotham, East Riding of Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to the charge when he asked to be rearraigned on the eve of his trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

He is to stand trial accused of endangering the safety of an aircraft, an offence under the Air Navigation Order (2016), which was brought by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Trial judge Mr Justice Foxton judge told the jury he was sending them home and they should return to court for 2pm on Tuesday.

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.