Ben Stokes: England cricket captain appeals for help after house burgled by 'masked' gang while family at home

Stokes was in Pakistan on England duty when his home in the Durham village of Castle Eden was burgled on the evening of October 17. The intruders escaped with several valuable items, including a Christian Dior handbag, a gold ring featuring the England cricket insignia, bracelets, and his OBE, awarded in 2019 for his contributions to cricket.

Posting the pictures alongside a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Stokes wrote: “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 two 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.”

Stokes said he was releasing photographs of some of the stolen items, which he hopes are easily identifiable, in the hope of finding the culprits.

He said: “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.”