Nick Grimshaw and mother 'sedated by gang who pumped knockout gas into Ibiza villa' before breaking in
23 August 2024, 12:23
Nick Grimshaw and his mother are said to have been terrorised on holiday by a gang who pumped sedative gas into their Ibiza villa before breaking in.
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The radio DJ and his mother Eileen, 81, were on the Spanish island for his 40th birthday in July, along with other family members.
The gang are said to have pumped the sedative gas into the holiday home, waited for them to fall asleep, before breaking in and turning the place over.
No one was hurt during the incident, with the gang said just to have performed the stunt for fun.
They are unlikely to have known who Grimshaw is, but would have understood that the home was used by wealthy holidaymakers.
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An insider said Grimshaw was left shaken by the incident.
"Sadly it's a case of the wrong place at the wrong time but it's scary to say the least," they told the Sun.
"Nick was obviously upset but thought best to keep things off social media."
Grimshaw posted photos from Ibiza in July, saying: "If football's coming home maybe no one will notice if I just….. stay here."
This is not the first time that reports of celebrity sedative gassings have appeared.
Formula 1 driver Jenson Button and his wife Jessica were said to have been subject to such an attack in their villa in Saint-Tropez in the south of France in 2015.
Button's spokesperson said at the time: "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."
But local police and a prominent British anaesthetist both cast doubt on the idea that gas had been used.
Dr Liam Brennan, who was then the vice-president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said: "We find it very difficult to understand how anaesthetic agents could be delivered in the concentrations required to produce that sort of effect."
