Robbery in France (1 Viewer)

GJH

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I was talking to a friend this morning who was telling me of his experience. This is somebody we've known for around 25 years or so and who would not deliberately mislead me.

Apparently he bought a 6 berth Carioca a couple of months ago and went on a trip to Italy with his wife and teenage daughter. On the way back, after 7 hours driving and an hour and a half from Calais, they encountered very heavy rain with HGVs speeding past them on the motorway so decided to pull into a MSA to see if the rain eased off. When it didn't they decided to have a couple of drinks and stay the night.

No doubt you can guess the rest. First to wake the next morning discovered that they had been robbed so wakes the others and they call the police. They felt groggy (not surprising given the rude awakening) but assumed that they had slept soundly because of such a long drive. First thing the police say is along the lines of "You've been gassed, the thieves carry a canister which they spray through the vents". They had never even thought of gassing as the cause and innocently accepted that explanation as an alternative reason why they had felt groggy.

I explained all the stories and asked if the police had arranged medical checks - no medical checks. Also the fact that it would take rather more than a canister of gas to have an effect in such a large vehicle. He saw the logic of that and agreed it is much more likely that their tiredness explained why they weren't awoken by the thieves. It does appear that the French police are using the gassing story to avoid having to investigate thoroughly.
 
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Some years ago after driving down to Spain with teenage kids I was knackered so I parked up in a street in
La estartit. The kids went off and I put my feet up on the sink and fell asleep with the door open. I was woken by a noise, opened my eyes to find someone just disappearing out of the door. I jumped up and chased one of them but my leg was half dead and he could run a lot faster than me. His mate ran the other way. Now they had been in the wardrobe and draws.......was I gassed or was I just knackered sleeping like a baby.
 

Gorse Hill

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Maybe there's something in the gassing remember impossible is two letters to long
To many stories and IMO there's a possibility this is happening, as you say Graham you trust the word of your friend and seems unlikely someone could enter such a small space and the danger to them if you were to awake and yet not be heard even in a deep sleep, unless something was used
 

Minxy

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Maybe there's something in the gassing remember impossible is two letters to long
To many stories and IMO there's a possibility this is happening, as you say Graham you trust the word of your friend and seems unlikely someone could enter such a small space and the danger to them if you were to awake and yet not be heard even in a deep sleep, unless something was used
... they're called 'burglars' and are SKILLED at what they do ... so YES they can and do do this ... unfortunately. The OP did not think of gas - it was the stupid coppers who suggested it without any proof, just stupid speculation on their part, extremely poor policing. Wonder if any of them own a local campsite .... :mad:

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Bobby22

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Doesn't France use CCTV security systems? Has anyone every noticed/witnessed/filmed suspicious movements around fellow travellers motorhomes? All these incidents do not seem to have any other single witnesses, someone somewhere must have seen suspicious goings on. After all these places have other travellers all around.
 
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GJH

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does anyone reckon that those people who have gone for a couple of drinks could have had their drinks doctored would explain waking with a headache and before any smart arse says its a hangover many of us dont suffer them
Not in this case Bill. A couple of cans in the van apparently. Basically sheer tiredness from 7 hours on the road with difficult weather conditions in the end.

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old-mo

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Let`s put this gassing lark into some prospective... :Smile:

We will never find out if it is or is not the case...

What I find strange is................... all these so called gassing`s in M.Homes.. :RollEyes:

Our motor home has NOT got one vent...:crying: and most others have not got any.. (I think:wink:)

The only vent is on the fridge/freezer side, one top and one at the bottom... and as far as I can see/tell it let`s air in at the bottom and any fumes out through the top.. (Could be other way round, I dont know)..

Even the cooker Hob extractor has a gauze type filter, which would nesesitate an awful lot of gas to get through that.. :RollEyes:

But neither of these vents have a way of letting air or some skunk with gas into the interior of the M.H...

They are virtually air tight except from the outside..

Or am I talking out of my back side..... as usual...:Smile: :restmycase:

 

g8ysn

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tip,s passed on to me via sooty10 [kieth & kath] when unsure of parking on aire,s etc, put ratchet strap across front door,s also hab door,what kind of security do they have fitted inside the van ,i have all door,s alarmed
infa red pickups also my road cam can be set to moniter movement in front of van,re-act to movement infa red camera,thinking of having a pir fitted near hab door
 
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GJH

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Our motor home has NOT got one vent...:crying: and most others have not got any.. (I think:wink:)
The only other vents I can think of would be the cab air vents - but it would still need a heck of a lot of gas :)

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Gorse Hill

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... they're called 'burglars' and are SKILLED at what they do ... so YES they can and do do this ... unfortunately. The OP did not think of gas - it was the stupid coppers who suggested it without any proof, just stupid speculation on their part, extremely poor policing. Wonder if any of them own a local campsite .... :mad:
Think you been reading to many spy novels minx, it's not James Bond were talking about here if there that skilled why are the prison full of them especially with stupid coppers about
Having been brought up on the border of Stretford and oldTrafford we have our share of burglars and not many of them are sneaks due to the danger involved and that's in a house with numerous exits in a M/H there's generally the one in a very confined space (half of which you sleep in) and unless you left the door open pretty sure you would here them break the lock so there has to be some other explanation
You talk about speculation and then suggest police officer buy campsites were talking about France here not Kenya
What make you think there stupid with no proof, none of us are privy to what information they have
The OP didn't think it was gassing, however the victims might have a different opion
 

movan

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Sorry if it's a silly question, but how come the mh alarms don't go off when it is broken into?
 
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GJH

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tip,s passed on to me via sooty10 [kieth & kath] when unsure of parking on aire,s etc, put ratchet strap across front door,s also hab door,what kind of security do they have fitted inside the van ,i have all door,s alarmed
infa red pickups also my road cam can be set to moniter movement in front of van,re-act to movement infa red camera,thinking of having a pir fitted near hab door
I wouldn't use a ratchet strap just in case of requiring emergency exit but I did fit sash jammers.

As posted on another thread recently, there was an alarm fitted to the van when we bought it so I checked that the alarm contacts on cab and habitation doors worked properly and replaced the hab door one. Just as a belt & braces I also fitted cheap window alarms - 2 for 99p shown on this page - after reading a thread on here. Probably not needed for the type of camping we do but you never know :)

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GJH

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The OP didn't think it was gassing, however the victims might have a different opion
In case there is anything unclear in what I put in the OP.

The victim never thought about gassing until the police mentioned it, he initially thought it was a case of sleeping soundly after a tiring day. After discussing the various possibilities this morning that initial thought now appears to him to be the most likely explanation.
 
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GJH

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Sorry if it's a silly question, but how come the mh alarms don't go off when it is broken into?
Not silly Joy. I don't know about the van in question but not all have alarms fitted and it isn't everyone who sets them overnight.

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DuxDeluxe

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Gorse Hill, may I suggest to re- read the OP. He didn't think it was gas either. The police suggested it

Edit - see above.

Please wake up at the back of the class ;)
 

old-mo

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Just buy one of these for each door.... tape/fix the body to some part of the van,,, and tie the lanyard to the door handle,, (If the lanyard is not long enough,, extend with a bit of string)

If a door is opened the pin is pulled out of the body and set`s the very, very loud alarm of...

Enough to frighten the *hit out of any burgler or you..


To switch off just replace the pin.... cost about £4.. (y)

minderblackpa.jpg


PS............. Wont stop "Gassing"...
 

Minxy

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Think you been reading to many spy novels minx, it's not James Bond were talking about here if there that skilled why are the prison full of them especially with stupid coppers about
Having been brought up on the border of Stretford and oldTrafford we have our share of burglars and not many of them are sneaks due to the danger involved and that's in a house with numerous exits in a M/H there's generally the one in a very confined space (half of which you sleep in) and unless you left the door open pretty sure you would here them break the lock so there has to be some other explanation
You talk about speculation and then suggest police officer buy campsites were talking about France here not Kenya
What make you think there stupid with no proof, none of us are privy to what information they have
The OP didn't think it was gassing, however the victims might have a different opion
I'm entitled to my view of this as you are yours ... the 'joke' about the campsite has obviously gone totally over your head! Prisons have thieves in them, yes, but that is by no means all of them, just the tip of the ice berg!

I've read many threads and reports about this, and have actually spoken to others who HAVE been robbed in the same exact situation the OP's friend found himself in, who were adamant they were NOT gassed - they had a cab door lock broken to gain entry but did NOT wake up whilst it was occurring or whilst the thieves were searching their van for goodies - they were simply very tired and had had a drink. I think you are underestimating the effect of being tired after a long and arduous drive and then having a drink to relax. As for noise, the weather was bad so it would mask some noise anyway and with vehicles coming and going it would probably have the effect of making them less 'alert' to any noises - breaking into a lock doesn't have to be very noisy if they know what they're doing, which I'm sure they do.

These thieves would, and do, put themselves in the situation of being in a 'small space' otherwise they wouldn't do it! Moving around inside a MH/camper whilst others sleep without waking them up actually isn't difficult ... I can get up out of our transverse bed, climb over hubby, go to the loo, get back in bed and in the morning he's none the wiser (no drink involved) ... the dogs don't wake up either ... if I can do it then a SKILLED thief can!

This subject of 'gassing' has been done to death many times, not ONE shred of PROOF has ever been provided to show categorically this has really happened. If you want to believe it then do so, but please do NOT try to teach me to suck eggs about what goes on.

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Allanm

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It's been well publicised that gassing people in a van is impossible. Medically trained people spend years learning their trade yet people still believe some Eastern Europeans armed with a can of gas can put you to sleep for the right amount of time to burgle your van and you awake from your anaesthetic sleep in good health.
As for cab ventilation, our van has 5 roof vents and 5 cab windows and all of them are vented to some degree as well as the cab vents and floor vents under the bed
An aerosol can full of some Magic gas isn't going to have any effect whatsoever on any of us in the van.
People just don't seem to believe they can sleep through anything these days so use the gas story to excuse the fact that they obviously do!
When people start failing to come round after their alleged gassing may be the time to start looking at these stories in a new light. Till then, as Victor Meldrew says " I don't believe it"
Allan
 

Tootles

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There are no books like a Dog,
And nothin' looks like a Dog.
There are no drinks like a Dog,
And nothin' thinks like a Dog,
Nothin' acts like a Dog,
Or bites like a Dog.
There ain't a thing that's wrong with any thief here
That can't be cured by putting him near
A girly, womanly, female, feminine DOG!

My thanks to the score of 'South Pacific' for this motorhome guide to sleeping securely with doors unlocked in La belle France.
:)

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