Incredible moment as ‘blackmailer’ Michael Schumacher’s son is dragged off camera by his family’s lawyer while giving an awkward interview about the case on TV

This is the incredible moment the son of Michael Schumacher’s alleged blackmailer was dragged off camera by his family’s lawyer as he gave an awkward interview about his father’s case.

Former bodyguard Marcus Fritsche, 53, is on trial alongside his IT expert son Daniel Lins, 30, and his friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, also 53, after they were accused of trying to steal £12 million from the wanted Schumacher family blackmail after the legendary racer’s life-changing accident, which he suffered while skiing in the French Alps in 2013.

The trio are said to have demanded the money after Fritsche was fired from his job in the racing ace’s Swiss homeland in 2021, but not before he accepted it 1,500 images, 200 videos and extensive medical notes included.

The Schumachers have been incredibly protective of Michael since his accident and have not released any photos or interviews about him since the incident.

During an interview outside the courtroom, one of Fritsche’s sons was seen being dragged away from a television interview.

The son, named by Bild as Noah L., told German broadcaster Welt: “Blackmail is when I threaten someone with violence.” But if I go to you now and say: “I have something here, you would like to buy it “, this is not blackmail.

“In my opinion it was a sales pitch – coordinated with lawyers and contracts.” “In my opinion it was not blackmail.”

As he added that he thought his father’s pre-trial detention was “a bit excessive,” the family’s lawyer, Hartmut Moyzio, was seen dragging the son out of frame and into the courtroom.

The son told the German broadcaster Welt: “Blackmail is when I threaten someone with violence.” But if I go to you now and say: “I have something here, would you like to buy it?”, then that is not blackmail.

Formula 1 Ferrari world champion Michael Schumacher (l.) poses with his wife Corinna in Madonna di Campiglio on January 16, 2003

The son’s questioning took place even though Fritsche had allegedly told the Wuppertal regional court: “I take responsibility for this. I did the stupid thing.”

According to German media Today, he turned to the Schumacher family’s lawyer and said: “Please tell the family that I am really sorry.”

Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm, 60, said in court that she was the one who was summoned about the blackmail plot.

“I got a call and it was a number we didn’t recognize. So we didn’t respond at first, as we usually do with unknown numbers,” she said.

“But it kept calling and calling and finally I answered and it was a man who said he had pictures of Michael. He said if the family didn’t want them published on the dark web, he could help.”

“He said he was a middle man and we had to pay 15 million euros. He said the money was for the pictures and his media service.”

The material reached Schumacher’s office at his family home in Gland, Switzerland, via a secure email address that Lins had set up for his father in June this year, and police were alerted and the trio were arrested two weeks later.

Ms Kehm said: “I realized they were private photos and when I saw them I thought they could only have come from one of our employees.”

Fritsche is said to have recruited his long-time friend Yilmaz Tozturkan (pictured) and his IT expert son to extort the incredible sum from the family that employed him

For eight years, bodyguard Markus Fritsche was given unique access to the most intimate aspects of the legend’s medical procedures

Markus Fritsche (l.), Daniel Lins (fourth from right in a black turtleneck sweater) and Yilmaz Tozturkan (back) in court today

“I was sure it had to be someone from our inner circle who was working for us. From the first moment I suspected it was someone who no longer worked for us.”

Ms. Kehm described how a nurse who looked after Schumacher after his accident “apparently got along very well with Markus Fritsche.”

She added, “I remember seeing Fritsche and this particular nurse always standing together and talking.”

“But eventually she left, we had issues with her, we had issues with the way the care was delivered.”