In a disturbing incident, England Test captain Ben Stokes’ home was burgled by masked intruders in the Castle Eden area of North East England on October 17.
Taking to social media platform X, Stokes stated that the robbers escaped with jewellery, valuables, and many personal items with sentimental value.
While none of his family members were physically harmed, the all-rounder revealed that his wife and two young children were inside the house when burglars carried out the crime.
Stokes expressed deep concern about the psychological impact of the incident, saying, "All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”
In an emotional plea, Stokes shared photographs of some of the stolen items in the hope that they can be identified. However, he stressed that recovering the items is secondary to catching those burglars.
The 33-year-old also thanked the police for their ongoing support, both now and during his time away in Pakistan.
"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 these 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," Stokes wrote on X.
"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. Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information. 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," he added.
Meanwhile, the Ben Stokes-led England side suffered a 2-1 defeat in the Test tour of Pakistan. While the Three Lions won the series opener in Multan by an innings and 47 runs, they lost the next two Tests in Multan and Rawalpindi by 152 runs and nine wickets respectively to concede the series.
