Michael Schumacher’s kids threatened by sick blackmailer who claimed he would ‘arrange an accident’ if he wasn’t paid £700,000
MICHAEL Schumacher's family were targeted by a sick blackmailer who threatened to harm his children unless money was paid, it emerged yesterday.
A German painter named only as Huseyin B., 25, sent an email to the F1 legend's wife Corinna making the chilling threat.
He asked for a "small donation" of £770,000 to be paid within weeks or else "your children will be in some way unlucky", Reutlingen District Court in Germany heard.
The threat, sent on Valentines Day last year, added: "A lot of accidents happen in Formula 4" — the race series in which son Mick, 18, is a driver.
Corinna has been running the family businesses since her husband's ski accident in December 2013, from which he is yet to recover.
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Corinna, 48, immediately contacted police in Switzerland, where the family live, and provided detectives with the email.
But bungling Huseyin contained in his threat his personal bank details, making it easy for investigators to track him down.
Judge Eberhard Hausch said in court on Wednesday: "It was hardly sensible to state your own bank account number."
After pleading guilty in front of Corinna, who attended court, Huseyin's lawyer said: "He planned it all but can still not explain why."
Prosecutors called for two years of probation but he was slapped with one year and nine months.
He also received a £3,900 penalty, 50 hours community service and ordered to undergo psychiatric therapy.
Earlier this month the Schumacher family were awarded over £40,000 in damages from German magazine Bunte, which ran a story claiming Michael could walk again.
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