England’s Test cricket captain Ben Stokes revealed that his family was at home when a masked gang burglarized his residence in Castle Eden, North East, while he was on tour in Pakistan. Stokes shared on Wednesday that although his family, including wife Claire and children Layton and Libby, escaped unharmed, several valuable and sentimental possessions were taken.
In a social media post, the 33-year-old Stokes detailed the incident, which took place on Thursday, October 17, during the second Test match that England lost by 152 runs as part of their 2-1 series defeat. “On the evening of Thursday 17th October, a number of masked people burgled my home,” he wrote. “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.”
APPEAL
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…
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) October 30, 2024
Expressing concern for his family’s emotional and mental well-being following the incident, Stokes continued, “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.”
To aid in identifying the perpetrators, Stokes has released images of the stolen items, explaining, “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.” He emphasized that his main motivation was justice, not the recovery of belongings, saying, “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.”
Stokes concluded by encouraging anyone with relevant information to contact the police, expressing his gratitude, “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.”