Jenson Button's wife "heartbroken" after London thief swipes suitcase with £250,000 of jewellery inside

The theft occurred after the couple returned from a romantic trip to Paris. While the former Williams, Honda and Brawn GP driver, 45, was helping a chauffeur load Brittny’s suitcase into a car, a man snatched the carry-on bag and vanished into the crowd before they realised it was gone.

The suitcase held two Hermes Kelly bags worth approximately £70,000, along with antique and sentimental jewellery, including pieces linked to their wedding and the birth of their daughter. Brittny had hoped to pass the items down to her child.

Button’s bag had already been loaded into the front seat when he briefly turned his back, giving the thief the opportunity to strike. The suspect, 41-year-old Mourad Aid, was later arrested by plainclothes officers after CCTV images were circulated. He pleaded guilty to theft at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 19 February and remains in custody awaiting sentencing.

Brittny, 34, was left in tears and says the incident has put her off returning to the UK. The couple, who now live in Calabasas, California, with their two children, married in March 2022 after buying their home in 2021.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: “I was kind of shocked. How like unsecure everything felt [in London] — just so many people, [and] so chaotic,” she said. “I don't really have many things from my parents, I don't really have many family heirlooms and I wish I did. So it's really heartbreaking.

“I'm normally pretty cautious when I'm out in public and travelling, but I just didn't think that there were gangs literally just waiting for people and watching. My husband and I, we really have no interest going back to the UK and it's a shame, because, you know, we will have to go back for family and work.

“It just feels so unsafe and doesn't feel how it once was, and it’s just unfortunate because that's where my children's grandmother and aunts live.”

Button, who earned his F1 debut in 2000 for Williams, started 309 races in his career, winning the championship in 2009 for Brawn - the team Ross Brawn bought for £1 after Honda left the sport. His final race was the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, where he deputised at McLaren for Fernando Alonso, who was competing in the Indy 500 that same weekend.