England test captain Ben Stokes' house 'burgled by masked gang while family were inside'

Ben Stokes has said a masked gang burgled his home while his wife and children were inside and he was on England duty.

The Durham cricketer said his family did not come to "any physical harm" in the incident at his home in the Castle Eden area of County Durham but several "irreplaceable and sentimental" items were taken.

The England test captain was in Pakistan for the recent test match at the time of the burglary on the evening of Thursday 17 October.

In an appeal on social media, Stokes asked for help to find the items which he said were stolen including jewellery, handbags and the OBE medal he received in 2020.

He also shared pictures of a number of the missing items and thanked Durham Constabulary for their "outstanding support" since the incident.

Writing on X, he said: "On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East.

"They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family.  They are irreplaceable.

"This is an appeal for any help in finding the people who carried out this act.

"By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.

"I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items - which I hope may be easily identified - in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.

"Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.

"Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding.  They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people."

In a statement, Durham Constabulary said: "Officers are appealing for information following a burglary of a cricketer’s home in Castle Eden on October 17.

Police were called following the incident on Thursday, October 17, when the burglars are believed to have broken into the home occupied by Ben Stokes’ wife and children while he was in Pakistan.

The family were not harmed but the thieves got away with several items including jewellery and other valuables, many of which were sentimental.

An investigation is ongoing and the family have released images of some of the stolen items in the hope it will aid investigators."

He also encouraged anyone with information to contact police on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927.

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