Jenson Button is “unharmed” but “shaken” after being the target of a burglary while he holidaying in France with his wife Jessica Michibata.
A statement issued by the driver 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.”
“Whilst unharmed everyone involved is unsurprisingly shaken by the events.”
Button was previously targeted by criminals during the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend when a car he was travelling in was the subject of an attempted attack by armed men.
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HRT (@vvans)
7th August 2015, 9:36
Always buy cheap engagement rings kids.
sato113 (@sato113)
7th August 2015, 10:37
I don’t understand engagements rings… Because you get a nice wedding ring.
HRT (@vvans)
7th August 2015, 11:01
Me neither.
I asked my girlfriend how it works? If only the girl gets one? If its the same as the wedding ring? If not, if you still wear it after the wedding?
She answered all my questions but I forgot to pay attention so I still don’t know. Thank god there’s Google and Wikipedia.
maxier
7th August 2015, 12:08
:D good one
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
7th August 2015, 17:28
Yes, they wear the engagement ring with the wedding ring. Plus, when you have kids there is also an eternity ring in addition to those.
dragoll (@dragoll)
7th August 2015, 9:39
I’m glad everyone was unharmed. I find it baffling how criminals of this level can dedicate themselves to what is a difficult heist to pull off, yet can’t be bothered with making an honest living.
Kim Philby (@philby)
7th August 2015, 10:21
I know first hand that honest living doesn’t pay half as good. Well I don’t condone such criminal activities but I can discern the reasoning behind them, at least they were “professionals” about it and didn’t leave behind them a bloody mess.
Retired (@jeff1s)
7th August 2015, 9:43
As a Frenchman I can only be sorry for Mr & Mrs Button. We’re a scourge to others, between strikes, robberies and uncompetitive power units!
sare
7th August 2015, 10:06
OMFG LOL! :)))
Brian Frank (@brianfrank302)
7th August 2015, 11:56
Lol
Tony Hamilton (@tonybananas)
7th August 2015, 13:29
Don’t be so hard on yourselves, airlines and German and Italian power unit manufacturers are very happy with the situation
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
7th August 2015, 16:02
Trololol…!!! ^_^
andae23 (@andae23)
7th August 2015, 9:48
So… they weren’t gassed? Pretty much the only bit The Sun got wrong then. Glad they’re unharmed.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
7th August 2015, 11:08
@andae23 Not sure how you drew that conclusion…
andae23 (@andae23)
7th August 2015, 12:20
@optimaximal They only mention that it is a thing that burglars can do, not that it actually happened. It could have happened in Button’s case, but the way The Sun stated is merely speculation.
Janet54321 (@jan54321)
8th August 2015, 12:01
Nobody, police, Button, The Sun, have said they were gassed. It’s all ‘could have…’ and no actual evidence whatsoever.
This is from the Telegraph: The Royal College of Anaesthetists has debunked claims the F1 star was knocked out by sleeping gas before burglary. A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Anaesthetists has poured cold water on the claims, saying such a scheme would be nearly impossible.
“Our view is that it is very unlikely because it would be so impractical,” she told The Telegraph.
“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.”
The gases are so pungent that the victim would be able to smell it even if they were asleep, she added.
I trust the Royal College over The Sun any day.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th August 2015, 13:32
As @optimaximal mentions, how did you reach the conclusion that Button et all were not gassed?
They slept, the burglars put gas into the house to make sure that they would STAY asleep and then entered and took everything worthwhile they could find in all the rooms, not bothering to hurt them apart from the gas and shock @andae23
Drg
7th August 2015, 13:52
Have you any comprehension of how much gas that would require?
Further – I very much doubt they were asleep with the AC running in the South of France. It’s not Kuwait or Saudi.
If they were, unless they were sleeping in a matchbox (or a 15 euro a night box) where less than a 30 ton tanker of gas would work, then the fact is, they just did not hear them.
Witness the security bars all over every house in Spain at the moment.
And if you think that’s bad – 15 years ago I watched kids playing next to an electric fence on the inside (yes the inside) of a up market guarded walled housing compound… When I asked about it with my work colleague, it was because thieves kept digging through the walls. That was a nice residential part of Jo Burg in SA. Not Beirut. Which actually had no real issues apart from lamppost bombs but that’s another story.
I should just say the kids were in a swimming pool…
SteveR
7th August 2015, 14:24
What is a “lamppost” bomb?
Janet54321 (@jan54321)
8th August 2015, 12:03
See above.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
7th August 2015, 17:30
Either way, at Spa he should have a quick snort of helium before he answers his first question on TV. “Jenson, are you ok after your ordeal?”…
Matt Clark (@mattc888)
7th August 2015, 20:49
Rofl ;)
paul
7th August 2015, 16:14
He was previously in another scary situation in Brazil:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11704802
Wesley (@)
7th August 2015, 23:04
It says that in the article. There is even a link.
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
7th August 2015, 19:25
I highly doubt that gas was introduced through the air conditioning system. Virtually all permanently installed air conditioning systems are split into internal and external units. These units are connected by two pipes in which a coolant liquid is circulating. There may also be a third pipe that is used to pump condensed water from the inside to the outside. However, there is no air moving in those pipes at all, and the coolant circuit is completely closed. I can therefore see no way how this scheme should work.
Sergey Martyn
8th August 2015, 12:07
Long live multiculturalism!
Bomb more African countries, swallow US dictatorship and accept more immigrants in Europe!
No one is safe in Europe anymore – even worldwide stars.
My friend has visited Spain for about 25 years in a row but was robbed there couple of weeks ago and he said he won’t visit it anymore – like all Europe it has become criminal incubator.
I know you bleeding hearts will say that Russia is criminal too – yes, but when you compare what bacomes object of robbery in Russia (usually $20 000 + and due to amount it’s not that often) and what they rob you of in Europe (my friend lost his thin gold chain which cost just about $300 but it was a treasured gift grom his mother) you can see the difference between criminals and bare-assed monkeys fled from Lybia etc,
Pink Peril
9th August 2015, 23:24
Your post doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I am going to put your remarks down to a poorly worded comment rather than racism, which is what it could be read as.
medman (@medman)
14th August 2015, 23:59
Nothing better than paying a small fortune to rent a villa in the south of France only to be robbed again by creeps. Another article states that villa has been hit before…are we sure it’s not someone from the rental agency flipping a quick buck and fleecing their own customers twice?