Three men were found guilty in a case of blackmail attempted the family of the great Michael Schumacher.
The authors asked for 15 million euros (12.5 million pounds sterling) of the family to avoid publishing hundreds of photos and private videos of the family as well as digitized copies of Schumacher’s medical records.
A district court in Wuppertal, Western Germany, sentenced the principal defendant to three years in prison, while his son was sentenced to six months suspended and a fine of 1,200 euros (£ 1,000), The news agency reported on Wednesday. The main defendant had already been sentenced.
Another accused, a former family security guard, was sentenced to a two -year suspended sentence and a fine of 2,400 euros for helping and encouraged the other two men. Judge Birgit Neubert said the former security officer had made the most important contribution to crime through his violation of confidence, DPA reported.
The Schumacher family was threatened with the release of private equipment on the Darknet. The prosecutor’s office said some 900 photos and nearly 600 family videos and Schumacher’s digitized medical records were confiscated from the authors. A hard drive has remained missing.
Representing the Schumacher family, lawyer Thilo Damm said that the family would appeal in the case against the former security guard, against whom they wanted a four -year prison sentence.
While the other two defendants admitted the accusations, the security guard’s lawyer denied the accusations and asked for an acquittal. He said that his client had not stolen sensitive data.
The family protected Schumacher from public view since his serious ski accident in December 2013. Schumacher was on the French Alps of Meribel when he fell and his head struck a rock, causing an almost deadly brain lesion. Since his transfer from the hospital in September 2014, the seven times F1 champion has been cared for in private in a family home in Switzerland.
Schumacher retired from F1 in 2012 after winning 91 races and five consecutive titles with Ferrari from 2000 to 04. The other two titles of the German driver were with Benetton in 1994-1995.
