'Sales pitch': Hard drive holding Michael Schumacher photos reportedly missing as accused's son dragged away by lawyer

The son of one of Michael Schumacher's alleged blackmailers was dragged away by his furious lawyer after giving a sheepish interview outside court.

Former security guard Markus Fritsche, who had been recruited 18 months before Schumacher's skiing accident, allegedly wanted "revenge" after he was let go by Schumacher's wife Corinna earlier this year from his role.

He took with him 1500 images, 200 videos as well as extensive medical data of the Formula 1 legend, who hasn't been seen since suffering the crash in 2013.

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Markus Fristche then enlisted the help of his IT expert son Daniel Lins, as well as friend and nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan to carry out the plot.

It is alleged that a telephone call from Tozturkan on June 3 alerted the family to the theft, with proof provided via email.

The court heard that eight days later, another email followed, along with the ransom demands.

The three were arrested on June 19 after Swiss authorities traced the caller's number.

The trial is expected to last five days, with a verdict due in January, despite Fristche's confession.

There are now claims in the German media that one of the hard drives which may still hold data on the F1 legend has gone missing.

Reports state, Fritsche addressed the family's lawyer at one stage and said: "I take responsibility for this mistake. I did this. Please tell the family I'm sorry."

A member of the Schumacher staff also reportedly took to the stand, telling the court she had seen emails between the former bodyguard and the family revealing he wanted cash in return for the intimate photos staying private.

She claimed there were images of Schumacher in his wheelchair and threatened to post them on the dark web.

"Emails were written in which he said if he didn't get his pay he would go after the Schumacher family," she told the court.

Lins, the 30-year-old son of Fristche, is being charged for giving his father access to an untraceable Gmail address.

He is also accused of forwarding the photos on his dad's behalf.

"I didn't see the content. I didn't think there was anything bad about it. He said he had photos of a person and wanted to sell them.

"I didn't ask my father what it was all about. Its my father. So I just thought, yeah, okay, and that was it."

During an interview outside the courtroom, Yilmaz's son, named in German media as Noah L, was dragged away by Daniel's lawyer for giving a bizarre interview.

"Blackmail is when I threaten someone with violence," he told German broadcaster Welt.

"But if I go to you now and say, 'I have something here, do you want to buy it,' that is not blackmail.

"In my opinion it was a sales pitch - agreed with lawyers and contracts.

"In my opinion it was not blackmail."