The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Emiliano Sala family launch High Court legal action over his death
The family of footballer Emiliano Sala have instigated legal action over his death in an air crash two years ago.
Lawyers for the family said the High Court action has been started in order to “protect their legal rights”.
The single-engine Piper Malibu plane carrying the 28-year-old Argentinian, who was involved in a multimillion-pound transfer from FC Nantes in France to Cardiff City FC, crashed north of Guernsey on January 21, 2019.
His body was recovered the following month, but the aircraft’s unqualified pilot, David Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, has not been found.
David Henderson, who is alleged to have arranged the flight, is due to stand trial in October accused of endangering the safety of an aircraft, as well as attempting to discharge a passenger without valid
permission authorisation.
Details of High Court action emerged before a pre-inquest review was due to take place in Bournemouth, Dorset, into the footballer’s death.
Lawyer Daniel Machover said: “The family of Emiliano Sala are asking the coroner to fix the inquest date when she reviews matters, with or
a date soon after the trial of David Henderson, which has been fixed for October 18, 2021.
“In the meantime, in order to protect their legal rights and remedies arising from Emiliano’s untimely death, the family have commenced civil proceedings, but will seek agreement to stay those proceedings pending the outcome of the inquest.”
A close friend of the Duchess of Sussex has claimed the couple are “feeling free” following their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Actress Janina Gavankar, a friend of Meghan for some 17 years, said she spoke to the pair regularly and that they now planned to turn their focus towards the environmental and humanitarian work they had bonded over initially.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, she said: “I think they are feeling free.
“It is nice to see them feel free.
“Now they can get back to what they really were focussed on and how they really met and fell in love, that was through humanitarian and environmental work.”
In her interview with chat show host Winfrey,
Meghan said she had been suicidal while in the royal family but claimed she received no help after speaking about her suffering.
Gavankar, 40, said she had at the time been made “worried, terrified, sad” by her friend’s mental health problems.
She added: “After reading the short statement from Buckingham Palace today, I felt two things.
“One side, I thought: I am so thankful that they are finally acknowledging the experience.
“But on the other side, I am well aware that the family and the staff were well aware of the extent of it, and though their recollections may vary, ours don’t, because we lived through it with them.
“There are many emails and texts to support that.”