Man who stole Michael Schumacher photos and threatened to release them is jailed | F1 | Sport

A man has been sent to prison in Germany for attempting to blackmail F1 icon Michael Schumacher’s family. Nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan will serve three years behind bars after threatening to release 1,500 confidential files, including photos, on the dark web.

Tozturkan, 53, was arrested along with two other men after hard drives containing pictures, videos and medical records were stolen from Schumacher.

He and his 30-year-old son Daniel Lins were accused of ordering the Schumacher family to pay them £12million to keep the files out of the public eye.

The trial, which began in December, took place at Wuppertal district court.

Schumacher’s ex-bodyguard Markus Fritsche was also on trial after receiving the sensitive material and passing it on to Tozturkan.

Fritsche was handed a two-year suspended sentence, while IT expert Lins was given a six-month suspended sentence.

During the trial, the Schumacher family raised concerns that one hard drive with sensitive date on it was yet to be recovered. And their family lawyer Thilo Damm stated that the “lenient sentences” would be appealed.

He added: “We do not agree with everything the court said. You can rest assured that we will exhaust all legal possibilities at our disposal.

“We don’t know where the missing hard drive is… So there is the possibility of another threat through the back door.”

And before the verdict was heard, Tozturkan told the court: “I’m very sorry and ashamed for what I have done. It was a very disgusting thing. I take full responsibility.”

Schumacher is one of the greatest drivers in F1 history, having won seven world titles during his illustrious career on the track.

The 56-year-old won back-to-back titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 before winning four more with Ferrari.