Jenson Button burglary: Gas suspected in F1 driver break-in

Anaesthetic gas may have been used against Jenson Button and his wife Jessica during a burglary in France, the Formula 1 driver's spokesman says.

Two men, who stole jewellery including Jessica's engagement ring, may have pumped gas through the air conditioning before Monday's break-in, he said.

The couple were with friends in a rented villa in Saint-Tropez.

The British former F1 champion's spokesman said they were unharmed but everyone was "unsurprisingly shaken".

The Sun newspaper reported that valuables worth £300,000 were stolen.

The couple married in December.

Button's spokesman said: "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."

Analysis

The stolen engagement ring was on display in February 2014 during Formula 1 winter testing in Bahrain

Hugh Schofield, BBC News

There has been an awful lot of rumour about sleeping gas burglaries in France, but precious little hard evidence.

A number of doubts spring to mind: What gas do they use? In what quantities? How do they ensure it will be effective in the right parts of the house? And through the air-conditioning system? Really?

In the camping-car community, there have been persistent claims about burglars using sleeping gas.

On chat-lines, holiday-makers share their experiences and ask about ways to protect themselves.

But again - no-one has ever appeared in court charged with gassing and stealing. No police-officer is on the record.

Who knows? Maybe Jenson Button was indeed the target of a gas-and-steal.

The head of a security firm I spoke with in St Tropez says he has never heard of an actual case of a sleeping gas burglary. "I don't believe in it at all," is what he said.

Button, 35, who drives for team McLaren, is based in Monaco, about 80 miles (130km) along the coast from Saint-Tropez. He won the F1 championship in 2009 driving for Brawn GP and finished in eighth place in 2014.