Three guilty of plot to blackmail Michael Schumacher's family

Three men person been convicted by a German tribunal of trying to blackmail the household of ex-Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.

Yilmaz T, 53, was jailed for 3 years for threatening to upload 900 idiosyncratic photos, astir 600 videos and confidential aesculapian records to the acheronian web unless the Schumacher household paid €15m (£12m).

His 30-year-old lad was fixed a six-month suspended condemnation for aiding and abetting extortion. A erstwhile information defender astatine Schumacher's home, who denied immoderate involvement, received a two-year suspended sentence.

Schumacher has not been seen successful nationalist since a 2013 skis mishap which resulted successful superior encephalon injuries. His household person kept his aesculapian information private.

The begetter and lad had admitted astir of the charges and Yilmaz T, a nightclub bouncer successful Constance successful confederate Germany, told the tribunal that what helium had done was "very, precise disgusting".

"I realised that connected the 2nd time successful prison. I volition reply for it."

In his confession helium said helium had received 2 hard drives from the information guard, Markus F, who was accused of passing the delicate files for a "five fig sum".

One hard thrust is believed ne'er to person been recovered.

The justice blamed the information defender for allowing the blackmail effort to start. The Schumacher family's lawyer said they would situation his suspended sentence.

Markus F had been moving for the household 18 months earlier Schumacher's skis accident.

According to the defence, Schumacher's woman Corinna had asked him to digitise the family's backstage photos. They argued that the worldly went missing aft his declaration was terminated.

The tribunal heard that the begetter and lad had emailed the Schumacher household samples of the stolen files.

Recordings of telephone calls made to the Schumacher household were besides played successful court.

In 1 of these conversations, Yilmaz T told the household that alternatively than trying to blackmail them, helium was offering to enactment arsenic a broker successful returning the files and identifying their root successful what helium called a "clean deal".

The household alerted section authorities successful Switzerland who tracked the root of the menace to Germany and the 3 men were arrested successful June 2024.

The Schumachers' lawyer, Thilo Damm, said the sentences were excessively lenient for what was the "ultimate betrayal" and they planned to appeal.

"We bash not hold with everything the tribunal said. You tin remainder assured that we volition exhaust each ineligible possibilities astatine our disposal," helium said.

He besides voiced interest that a hard thrust remained missing contempt aggregate searches of the defendants' properties.

"We don't cognize wherever the missing hard thrust is," Mr Damm said, "I don't person a crystal shot but determination is the anticipation of different menace done the backdoor."