A masked gang broke into the home of England cricket captain Ben Stokes while his wife and two children were inside.
While England’s Test tour of Pakistan ended in a 2-1 defeat this month, Stokes was away as captain, but his wife Clare and their two young children were inside the house at the time of the break-in.
Although the burglary has had an “impact on their emotional and mental state,” the all-rounder stated that his family did not suffer “any physical harm.” Stokes also shared images of some of the stolen items and issued an appeal for information.
These included a specially engraved England logo ring and the OBE he received for his contributions to cricket following his leading role in England’s victory at the World Cup in 2019 and their unlikely victory over Australia in an Ashes Test match at Headingley.
Stokes posted this statement on social media: A number of masked individuals broke into my house in the Castle Eden area of the North East on Thursday, October 17th. They got away with a lot of jewelry, other valuables, and personal belongings.
“Me and my family hold a great deal of sentimental value for many of those items. They cannot be replaced. This is a request for assistance in locating the perpetrators of this crime. The fact that this crime occurred while my wife and two young children were present is by far the worst part of it.
“Thank goodness, no one in my family was hurt. However, it is understandable that the experience has affected their mental and emotional state. We can’t stop thinking about how much worse this could have been.
“In the hope that we can locate the people who are responsible for this, I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items, which I hope may be easily identified.” To be clear, my sole motivation for sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material possessions, even though we have lost prized possessions.
“The goal is to apprehend the perpetrators. If you believe you have any relevant information, please contact Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting crime reference CRI00575927. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to the police department.
“Their support for my family has been outstanding both now and while I was away in Pakistan. They continue to exert tremendous effort in their search for these individuals.”