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The Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Wednesday 17/06/09
Le Knockout Scam
A BRITISH family travelling in France claim they were drugged by thieves in a bizarre holiday scam.
The family of five believe they were targeted on a sleeper train and doped so the crooks could steal their money.
Ian Macaskill, 43 wife Anita, 44, their children Connor, 14, and Lauren, 12, and niece Jade, 15, were asleep in their bunks on the 10 hour journey from Paris to Argeles when thieves struck. They awoke feeling “groggy”, then realised that Anita`s handbag- containing 500 euros, medication, keys and driving licence-had gone.
Iain from Swallownest, near Sheffield, said: “I think we might have been sprayed with something that knocked us out. People should be on their guard.”
French police are now investigating a series of thefts on the train.
Wednesday 17/06/09
Le Knockout Scam
A BRITISH family travelling in France claim they were drugged by thieves in a bizarre holiday scam.
The family of five believe they were targeted on a sleeper train and doped so the crooks could steal their money.
Ian Macaskill, 43 wife Anita, 44, their children Connor, 14, and Lauren, 12, and niece Jade, 15, were asleep in their bunks on the 10 hour journey from Paris to Argeles when thieves struck. They awoke feeling “groggy”, then realised that Anita`s handbag- containing 500 euros, medication, keys and driving licence-had gone.
Iain from Swallownest, near Sheffield, said: “I think we might have been sprayed with something that knocked us out. People should be on their guard.”
French police are now investigating a series of thefts on the train.
Cargo Security International
Cargo Security International report more European Gassings
Specialist security publication Cargo Security International has reported further robberies involving gas in France and Italy. Both incidents occurred in the same month.
A truck driver who had parked at an overnight stop near Nimes in France was rendered unconscious by the gas. Thieves made off with his personal possessions which included his wallet, money and creditcards.
The robbery reported in Italy was carried out on the A14. Again the sleeping driver was incapacitated by a ‘sleeping-gas’ which was sprayed into the cab. Several thousand digital cameras were then stolen from the trailer without the knowledge of the driver.
Specialist security publication Cargo Security International has reported further robberies involving gas in France and Italy. Both incidents occurred in the same month.
A truck driver who had parked at an overnight stop near Nimes in France was rendered unconscious by the gas. Thieves made off with his personal possessions which included his wallet, money and creditcards.
The robbery reported in Italy was carried out on the A14. Again the sleeping driver was incapacitated by a ‘sleeping-gas’ which was sprayed into the cab. Several thousand digital cameras were then stolen from the trailer without the knowledge of the driver.
Spalding Today
Gassed and burgled in holiday drama
A SPALDING couple were gassed and burgled as they holidayed in France.
Barbara and Terry Hughes were gassed and burgled as they slept in a caravan rest area in Macon, France.
Thieves pumped ether into Barbara and Terry Hughes’ caravan as they slept, effectively anaesthetising the couple, before breaking in and stealing cash, a mobile ’phone and a camera.
The thieves struck as they were staying at a caravan rest area in Macon on June 14 - the second night of their two-week break.
It Is thought that the thieves removed the waste pipe cap of the caravan to pump the ether in.
A couple in a neighbouring caravan were also targeted.
Mrs Hughes, a Safeway worker and mother of three sons, said: "I realised something was wrong when in the morning I saw the caravan door was ajar, even though we locked it before we went to bed.
"I felt woozy and so did my husband but we thought nothing of it. We checked our belongings and realised that nearly everything had vanished. I was disgusted."
The Hughes lost 500 euros, a digital camera and a mobile ’phone but diabetic Mrs Hughes was relieved to find that the thieves had left her insulin.
She said: "The consequences could have been disastrous. Not only could I have died without my insulin, they could have harmed us if they wanted to.
"Because of the language barrier it would have been hard for me to get more insulin in time if it was stolen.
"I felt sick when I realised how much worse it could have been.
"Over the rest of our holiday I woke up about ten times each night."
The thieves didn’t get away with all the Hughes’ cash. Mrs Hughes had heard of similar horror stories before so she decided to hide some money elsewhere in the caravan.
Mrs Hughes added: "I would urge people to take care on their holidays this summer. We would never stay in an open site again.
’’Anyone was free to come and go as they pleased.
"After our experience we went straight to a safer camping site with six ft high fences that didn’t allow people not using the site in after 10pm.
"It’s made us wary of rest areas and we won’t be using them again.
"Don’t make the same mistake we did."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have received several reports of similar burglaries in France.
"We advise travellers to avoid parking in dark areas and to install an alarm in their caravan or mobile home."
03 July 2003
A SPALDING couple were gassed and burgled as they holidayed in France.
Barbara and Terry Hughes were gassed and burgled as they slept in a caravan rest area in Macon, France.
Thieves pumped ether into Barbara and Terry Hughes’ caravan as they slept, effectively anaesthetising the couple, before breaking in and stealing cash, a mobile ’phone and a camera.
The thieves struck as they were staying at a caravan rest area in Macon on June 14 - the second night of their two-week break.
It Is thought that the thieves removed the waste pipe cap of the caravan to pump the ether in.
A couple in a neighbouring caravan were also targeted.
Mrs Hughes, a Safeway worker and mother of three sons, said: "I realised something was wrong when in the morning I saw the caravan door was ajar, even though we locked it before we went to bed.
"I felt woozy and so did my husband but we thought nothing of it. We checked our belongings and realised that nearly everything had vanished. I was disgusted."
The Hughes lost 500 euros, a digital camera and a mobile ’phone but diabetic Mrs Hughes was relieved to find that the thieves had left her insulin.
She said: "The consequences could have been disastrous. Not only could I have died without my insulin, they could have harmed us if they wanted to.
"Because of the language barrier it would have been hard for me to get more insulin in time if it was stolen.
"I felt sick when I realised how much worse it could have been.
"Over the rest of our holiday I woke up about ten times each night."
The thieves didn’t get away with all the Hughes’ cash. Mrs Hughes had heard of similar horror stories before so she decided to hide some money elsewhere in the caravan.
Mrs Hughes added: "I would urge people to take care on their holidays this summer. We would never stay in an open site again.
’’Anyone was free to come and go as they pleased.
"After our experience we went straight to a safer camping site with six ft high fences that didn’t allow people not using the site in after 10pm.
"It’s made us wary of rest areas and we won’t be using them again.
"Don’t make the same mistake we did."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have received several reports of similar burglaries in France.
"We advise travellers to avoid parking in dark areas and to install an alarm in their caravan or mobile home."
03 July 2003
Sunday Life Online
Gassed and robbed
Spanish thieves strike as Ulster couple sleep
By Ciaran McGuigan 21 December 2003
VICIOUS thieves gassed a top Ulster businessman and his wife, before robbing them, while on holiday.
Former hotel-owner and publican, Jack Rodgers, and his wife, Lynne, awoke to find their bedroom had been cleaned out by robbers, as they slept.
And cops on the Costa del Sol believe that robbers who broke into the couple’s bedroom exposed them to a sedative gas, as they slept.
The crooks then robbed the couple - who regularly holiday just outside the resort of Marbella - taking cash and jewellery.
It is believed it was not until later the next day that the couple came round from the sedative.
There have been a spate of similar robberies in and around Spanish holiday resorts, where the unsuspecting victims have been "put under" by their anaesthetist robbers.
According to close pals, the Carrickfergus couple were left badly shaken by the ordeal, last month.
Said one pal of the family: "They were very shook up about what happened, particularly Lynne.
"They took a lot of jewellery, pieces that had been in her family for a long time, that were of great sentimental value to her.
"Also the fact that they fear they may have been drugged in some way has concerned them.
"It seems there is a pattern of this style of robbery in Spain, at the moment, which Spanish police seem to be blaming on Eastern European gangs."
The pal added: "Here people use a baseball bat to rob you, whereas, it seems, in Spain and elsewhere they will use sleeping gas."
Neither Mr Rodgers, a former owner of the Glenavna House Hotel, in Whiteabbey, nor any of his family, was available to comment yesterday, when Sunday Life called at their home.
Spanish thieves strike as Ulster couple sleep
By Ciaran McGuigan 21 December 2003
VICIOUS thieves gassed a top Ulster businessman and his wife, before robbing them, while on holiday.
Former hotel-owner and publican, Jack Rodgers, and his wife, Lynne, awoke to find their bedroom had been cleaned out by robbers, as they slept.
And cops on the Costa del Sol believe that robbers who broke into the couple’s bedroom exposed them to a sedative gas, as they slept.
The crooks then robbed the couple - who regularly holiday just outside the resort of Marbella - taking cash and jewellery.
It is believed it was not until later the next day that the couple came round from the sedative.
There have been a spate of similar robberies in and around Spanish holiday resorts, where the unsuspecting victims have been "put under" by their anaesthetist robbers.
According to close pals, the Carrickfergus couple were left badly shaken by the ordeal, last month.
Said one pal of the family: "They were very shook up about what happened, particularly Lynne.
"They took a lot of jewellery, pieces that had been in her family for a long time, that were of great sentimental value to her.
"Also the fact that they fear they may have been drugged in some way has concerned them.
"It seems there is a pattern of this style of robbery in Spain, at the moment, which Spanish police seem to be blaming on Eastern European gangs."
The pal added: "Here people use a baseball bat to rob you, whereas, it seems, in Spain and elsewhere they will use sleeping gas."
Neither Mr Rodgers, a former owner of the Glenavna House Hotel, in Whiteabbey, nor any of his family, was available to comment yesterday, when Sunday Life called at their home.