Michael Schumacher’s wife issues statement over trial verdict

She has called for the sentences to be reviewed

Michael Schumacher's wife Corinna has sought to appeal the 'far too lenient' trial verdict over the blackmail plot to leak her husband's health secrets.

Last year, MailOnline revealed details of an extortion bid on the seven-time Formula One champion.

Schumacher has not been seen in public since 2013 when a horrific ski accident almost cost him his life.

Three men including Schumacher's former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, 53, were on trial after hard drives containing confidential pictures, videos and medical records were stolen from a computer.

Nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan, also 53, and his IT expert son Daniel Lins, 30, denied blackmail and insisted they were offering the Schumacher family a 'business deal'.

The trial has heard more than 1,500 images, videos and confidential medical records were downloaded from a computer and given to Fritsche who passed them to Tozturkan who said he would 'upload them onto the dark web' unless money was paid.

Prosecutors in the German city of Wuppertal requested Tozturkan, who is currently in prison on an unrelated crime, to be given three years while Schumacher's family had been asking for five years for what they claim was his 'ultimate betrayal'.

His son, Lins, was given a six-month suspended sentence, while Fritsche received two years, also suspended.

Corinna and the Schumacher family have hit out at the sentences given, highlighting Fritsche's in particular as not severe enough - in fear of copycat crimes being committed in the future. 

In a statement issued on Monday, they 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. He should receive a punishment that deters any potential copycats."

The trial, which began in December of last year, saw Tozturkan admit his guilt and regret for his role in the blackmail plot, with the accused telling the court it was a 'very, very disgusting thing' that he had done. 

He said: "I realised that on the second day in prison. I will answer for it. I am very sorry and ashamed. I will take responsibility for what I have done."

Throughout the trial, details about Schumacher's health condition have been kept private, as they have for the past 11 years since his accident.

It is not the first time Schumacher's privacy has been breached in this way.

An executive at the helicopter air rescue company that transferred him from a French hospital to Switzerland six months after the crash allegedly tried to steal his medical records and sell them to several European media outlets for €50,000 (£40,000).

Prosecutors in France tracked the IP address of the computer used in the theft to Rega, the main operator of air ambulances in Switzerland.

The company acknowledged it had received a medical file to assist in Schumacher's move, but strenuously denied being involved in the theft.

Prosecutors from France and Switzerland managed to trace the alleged theft back to the air rescue executive, who was promptly arrested and placed in a prison cell in Zurich.

But the next morning, hours before he was scheduled to go before the court, officers discovered that the man had hanged himself in his cell.

A year later, the family narrowly avoided another leak when an unnamed 'friend' granted access to Schumacher's home managed to snap a picture and smuggle it out.

The image was reportedly being offered to media outlets for one million euros but German prosecutors swiftly intervened, declaring the photograph and its attempted sale constituted a 'violation of his personal range of life' and a breach of privacy.