Richard Hammond’s Terrifying Burglary Ordeal After He Feared His Family Had Been Gassed

Richard Hammond and his family were burgled during a 2018 holiday in southeast France, and the former Top Gear presenter believes the group may have been gassed before thieves searched the villa. Richard, 56, his now-ex-wife Mindy Hammond, their daughter Willow and several friends were staying in Saint-Tropez when the property was targeted.

Mindy later called the incident a “horror story” and recalled how she nearly encountered one of the burglars. After hearing a door close downstairs, she went to investigate and heard a “male voice behind the door”. Assuming it was one of the other couples in their group, she returned to bed, only later realising that the voice was likely that of an intruder.

“That just makes my blood run cold. I could have easily walked in and it could have been unpleasant,” she told the Sunday Express at the time.

The robbery took place just days after their arrival. The 15 guests eventually discovered that cash had been taken from their wallets and purses.

Willow, Richard and Mindy’s 15-year-old daughter at the time, also noticed that her watch had disappeared.

“I thought back on it and realised it was odd, because the first thing I noticed when I woke up was our bedroom door was open, as was everybody else’s,” Mindy said.

“I’m pretty convinced we must have been gassed or something, because they were in all of the bedrooms – they went where they wanted, into each room, opening and closing the drawers, searching through handbags etc.

“You have got to have some kind of confidence to do that and to be quite satisfied that people aren’t going to wake up.”

Anaesthetic gas had reportedly been used in the region before, with Formula 1 driver Jenson Button among those previously believed to have been targeted in a similar incident.

Mindy said everyone in the villa found it difficult to wake the next morning. Even Richard’s loud snoring had failed to disturb her.

The group later learned that the neighbouring property had also been burgled that night. The villa’s owner contacted police, who patrolled the area, while additional security measures were introduced.

“We also employed a security guard for the rest of the holiday, night watch, to reassure everybody,” Mindy revealed. Two suspects were captured on camera and arrested by police within 48 hours of the break-in.

“It’s particularly worrying when you have a teenage girl who knows that her bedside table has been rifled through while she was sleeping – that’s not very nice at all.”

The mother-of-two added: “The other worry for all the wives was that the husbands think, ‘We are going to stay up all night because we are dads and husbands and have to protect our families’.

“That could have ended up in a very bad situation if there was a confrontation. There would have been too much emotion involved.”