A man has been arrested after the County Durham home of the England cricket captain Ben Stokes was burgled. Stokes said his wife and two children were at home during the break-in, in which his OBE medal and other valuables were taken.
Durham police said a 32-year-old man from North Yorkshire was arrested on suspicion of burglary on Thursday night. He was released on bail while inquiries continued, the force said.
Stokes, who was in Pakistan for a test match on the night of the burglary, said the items stolen included the medal he received when he was honoured in the 2020 New Year’s list for helping England win the World Cup the year before.
Describing the break-in at his Castle Eden home on the evening of 17 October, Stokes posted images of the things stolen. Items included a Christian Dior handbag, a gold ring with England cricket insignia and bracelets.
“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,” Stokes wrote on social media. “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.”
He added: “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 … 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.”
