Were Grand Prix star and wife really gassed in villa raid?
Couple given blood tests as experts raise doubts
MEDICAL experts yesterday cast doubts on claims that Jenson Button and his wife Jessica were gassed as they slept during a raid on their French villa.
The pair were with friends in St Tropez when thieves broke in and stole valuables worth £300,000 including Mrs Button’s engagement ring, believed to be worth £250,000.
It was claimed the Formula One driver, 35, and his wife may have been knocked out by gas pumped into the house through air conditioning units. A source close to Button said the Grand Prix star was ‘convinced’ that’s what happened. They added that Button and his friends weren’t disturbed during the raid as the effects of the gas gave the burglars ‘free rein’.
However, Liam Brennan, vice president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, poured scorn on the idea.
In the past year the RCA has issued statements claiming stories of tourists being gassed in their caravans and motor-homes were a myth. Dr Brennan said: ‘I cannot think of any agent that could be used in this way that could be delivered in an effective concentration into a large environment to produce the effect desired.’
A spokesman for the RCA added: ‘ You would need to use a truckload of gas, and that amount would be phenomenally expensive to obtain. One has to ask why anyone would spend so much money on what is such an impractical method.’
Police in St Tropez last night confirmed they were investigating the burglary – but stressed claims of gas being used did not come from them.
Blood samples provided by the couple were being examined by French police scientists last night.
Deputy prosecutor Philippe Guemas said: ‘To our knowledge there has never been a burglary like this in St Tropez where gas was used to knock out the victims. Nothing
‘Unsurprisingly shaken’
has been established. Jenson Button’s entourage has made this claim as the driver didn’t feel well the following day.’
Mrs Button, 30, a former model, had recently posted photographs on her Twitter account of her posing in a bikini with her engagement ring.
She may also have inadvertently given away the location of the couple’s villa.
On August 1 – just 72 hours before the raid – she posted a photograph of the view from their villa before she revealed another snap of her lying on a beach wearing her £250,000 ring which has five carats and a large teardrop diamond set in a diamondencrusted platinum band.
A spokesman for Button said the McLaren driver, his wife and a small group of friends who were staying with them at the time were unharmed but had been left ‘unsurprisingly shaken by the events’.
He said: ‘Jenson, Jessica and friends were on holiday in a rented villa in St Tropez when on Monday evening two men broke into the property whilst they all slept and stole a number of items of jewellery including, most upsettingly, Jessica’s engagement ring.
‘The police have indicated that this has become a growing problem in the region with perpetrators going so far as to gas their proposed victims through the air conditioning units before breaking in.’
Gas has been mentioned in reference to burglaries in France and wealthy areas of the country.
In 2006 France and Arsenal footballer Patrick Vieira along with his wife and daughter were the victims of a raid on their home near Cannes. The family complained of feeling unwell after the burglary and it was later revealed that gas had been pumped into the air conditioning system to keep them asleep. Fash- ion presenters Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine were prey to a similar attack i n 2010 in Cannes, when they were allegedly smothered with chloroform. Button currently drives for McLaren Honda and only married his model wife in Hawaii in December. He is said to be worth £72million and was ranked the third richest British sports star in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.