Sam Abay’s fathered was obsessed

Michael Abay was obsessed. From the moment son Sam showed promise as a go-kart driver, Michael Abay dedicated himself to the dream that one day his boy would race Formula One cars. So obsessed was he that his family business suffered and had to be sold in 2005, the Herald Sun reports.

But the proud dad continued to pursue the dream – setting out to find sponsors and benefactors to enable Sam to race in Asia and Europe and working in a furniture factory to pay the bills. And when the money ran out, Michael Thomas Abay turned to extortion.

Now Abay will have to watch his son's career from afar. He was jailed after pleading guilty to two counts of making demands with threats to kill.

Abay tried to extort a total of $100,000 from two people, including retired plastic surgeon to the stars, Leo Rozner. More at news.com.au