MICHAEL Schumacher’s wife has broken her silence on a “far too lenient” sentence handed out following a £12million blackmail plot against the racing star.
Corinna Schumacher has sought to appeal the trial verdict handed out to the “mastermind” behind the shocking case.
The Schumacher family’s ex-bodyguard, Markus Fritsche was accused of supplying blackmailers with private images and was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.
Despite this, Corinna and the Schumacher family slammed the sentence for not being hard enough.
A statement from Monday said: “We have appealed against what we consider to be the far too lenient sentence for Mr F,
“In my opinion, he was the mastermind behind this. What still shocks me most is the massive breach of trust.
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“He should receive a punishment that deters any potential copycats.”
Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, was also arrested after hard drives containing private pictures, medical records, and videos of the Formula One legend were stolen.
Tozturkan and his his 30-year-old son Daniel Lins were accused of demanding £12 million from the Schumacher family.
The pair from Wuppertal in western Germany threatened to release 1,500 confidential files about the motorsport legend, on the dark web, if they did not get the money.
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These files allegedly included information on the F1 champion after his skiing accident in 2013 – when the driver was last seen in public.
Prosecutors said the former security guard for the family sold the images of Schumacher for what was described as a five-figure sum.
The father was given an email, by Schumacher’s office, to send the files as proof he had them.
Tozturkan brought his son into the mix when he reportedly set an anonymous email, per BILD.
Tozturkan, who is currently behind bars for an unrelated crime, was handed a three-year sentence and Lins was handed a six-month suspended sentence.
The father and son made admissions of guilt at the start of their trial.
In court Tozturkan said: “I am very sorry and ashamed.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done.”
The mystery around the former F1 world champions’ current health condition continues.
He was last seen in public in 2013 when he set off on the Combe de Saulire ski run in the exclusive French resort of Meribel, with his then 14-year-old son Mick.
Michael’s skis caught on a rock below the snow, which caused him to crash head first into a boulder.
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Corinna and the rest of his family have been incredibly secretive about his condition 12 years on.
Only close friends are allowed to visit Michael at the family’s home in Gland, Switzerland.
What happened to Michael Schumacher?
MICHAEL Schumacher’s life was hanging by a thread 10-years-ago as medics tried desperately to keep him alive after a tragic skiing crash that left him with horrific brain injuries.
The F1 legend was given the best possible treatment as he was put into a medically induced coma, had his body temperature lowered and underwent hours of tricky operations on his brain.
Back in 2013, the retired seven-time world champion, and his then 14-year-old son set off on the Combe de Saulire ski run in the exclusive French resort of Meribel.
Footage from his helmet camera revealed he was not travelling at excessive speed when his skis struck a rock hidden beneath the snow.
He catapulted forward 11.5ft and crashed into a boulder head first that split his helmet into two and left him needing to be airlifted to hospital for two life-saving operations.
At one point his family were told to brace themselves for the worst case scenario as the situation was much worse than originally believed.
At the time, medics said Schumacher was likely to stay in an induced coma for at least 48 hours as his body and mind recovered.
But the coma ended up lasting 250 days – more than eight months.
After he woke up in June 2014, he was discharged from hospital and sent to his home in Lake Geneva to get further treatment.
Since then his wife Corinna and his inner circle of friends have expertly avoided almost anything leaking out about his health status.
Only small amounts of information have been released including reports that Schumacher was in a wheelchair but can react to things around him.
In 2019, it was said that Schumacher was set to undergo breakthrough stem cell therapy in a bid to regenerate and rebuild his nervous system.
Renowned France cardiologist Dr Philippe Menasche, who had operated on him previously, was set to carry out the treatment that would see cells from his heart go to his brain.
Following the treatment at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, he was said to be “conscious”, although few other details were given about his state.
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
