Police arrest 32-year-old man after Ben Stokes’ family home burgled by masked gang with wife and kids inside
A 32-year-old man has been arrested following a burglary at the home of England Test captain Ben Stokes.
County Durham police have said the man, from North Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of burglary overnight.
The man has since been bailed while inquiries continue.
Stokes was away on tour with England in Pakistan when the burglary took place on October 17.
But Stokes revealed in a statement on social media that his wife and two children were also present when it took place.
Stokes said: “On the evening of Thursday 17 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 also published a series of photos of some of the items stolen from his home, including a ring, some necklaces and the OBE he received in 2020 for his role in England’s dramatic World Cup victory the year prior.
He added: “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.”
The 33-year-old was making his return to the England squad in Pakistan after missing the previous four Tests due to a hamstring injury.
He took to bat the day after the burglary at his family home, hitting 37 off 36 balls as England fell to a 152-run defeat.
That left it all to play for in the final Test, but England were torn apart by Pakistan’s bowlers as they were all out for 112.
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Pakistan needed just 36 as they secured their first home series win in almost four years.
For England, it was a third Test loss in four matches and only the second series defeat with Stokes as captain.