Gassed in their beds by Riviera robbers: Terrifying ordeal of the British tourists falling victim to Mediterranean gang crimewave | Mail Online

Gassed in their beds by Riviera robbers: Terrifying ordeal of the British tourists falling victim to Mediterranean gang crimewave | Mail Online: "waiting outside for the gas to take effect, they creep back in and can take their time to ransack the rooms and steal cash, jewellery, credit cards, cameras and laptops. The thieves wear masks to stop them succumbing themselves. One victim, Lisa Smythe, was staying with her two sons in a four-bedroom house in Valbonne when they fell victim to an £80,000 robbery. The family were gassed through the letter box, but when one of the sons woke up to find masked men in his room they injected him with something to knock him out. Mrs Smythe, 38, woke up feeling groggy and struggled to wake her sons. Her eight-year-old, Robbie, had a needle mark on his arm, and he had to be tested for HIV. Jewellery, cash and computers worth £50,000 had been stolen, as well as a £30,000 Mercedes CLK Cabriolet. Mrs Smythe said: 'It was a horrific and incredibly scary experience. 'I felt sick, I knew we'd been gassed and robbed immediately as there's been a spate of these sort of burglaries in the area and seeing a needle mark in my son's arm was the worst moment of my life."