England cricket captain Ben Stokes‘ house has been hit by masked raiders while his wife and two young children were at home and he was in Pakistan for the test series.
The 33-year-old said his family did not come to ‘any physical harm’ in the raid but that it has had an impact on their ’emotional and mental state’.
In a statement issued today, the cricketer 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 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. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.’
Ben Stokes was in Pakistan when the robbery took place (pictured in Pakistan on October 23)
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.