Jenson Button possible victim of St Tropez ‘Sleeping gas burglary’

BRITISH Formula One driver Jenson Button and his wife, Jessica, were left shaken after a burglary in their rented French holiday villa, where it’s thought they may have been gassed by thieves while asleep.

The pair were staying in St Tropez with friends, when they awoke to find jewellery had been taken, including Jessica’s engagement ring. 

A spokesperson for the couple said: “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.”

The use of anaesthetic gas has been mentioned in a number of burglaries in France, including a 2006 case where Patrick Vieira and his family were left feeling unwell following a robbery on their home near Cannes.

However, a French security expert told the BBC’s correspondent that he had never heard of hard evidence of a ‘sleeping gas burglary.’ “I don’t believe in it at all,” he said.