England captain Ben Stokes(Image: PA Wire)

Ben Stokes' terror as burglars raid England star's home with his young children inside

Ben Stokes had jewellery and other valuables stolen from his home while he was away playing in Pakistan and the England cricket captain has issued an appeal for information

30 Oct 2024, 17:27 by Matthew Cooper · The Mirror

England cricket captain Ben Stokes had his house burgled while his wife and two children were at home.

Stokes was away captaining England as they suffered a 2-1 defeat in their Test tour of Pakistan earlier this month and the all-rounder also shared images of some of the items that were stolen.

These included the OBE he was awarded for services to cricket after his starring role in England's 2019 World Cup win and improbable victory over Australia in an Ashes Test match at Headingley.

In a statement on social media, 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 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.

"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."

There will be more to follow on this breaking news story and Mirror Sport will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible.

Please check back regularly for updates on this developing story.