Man, 32, arrested after Ben Stokes' family home raided by masked gang

An arrest has been made after England cricket hero Ben Stokes revealed his home had been broken into while he was away on tour

A man has been arrested in the wake of sports star Ben Stokes revealing his family home was broken into by a masked gang while he was away on tour.

The terrifying ordeal unfolded while Stokes was leading England in their Test tour of Pakistan earlier this month, leaving his wife Clare and their two young children at home during the break-in.

While no physical harm came to his family, Stokes admitted the incident had taken a toll on their emotional wellbeing. Among the stolen items were his OBE for services to cricket, a ring engraved with the England insignia, and other personal valuables.

In a statement shared with the Mirror on Friday, a spokesperson for Durham Police said: "A man has been arrested following a burglary at the home of an England cricketer. An investigation was launched following the break-in at Ben Stokes’ home on October 17 when high-value items were taken.

"A 32-year-old man from North Yorkshire was arrested overnight on suspicion of burglary. He has since been bailed whilst enquiries continue. Officers continue to appeal for information and anyone who can help is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 543 of October 17."

In a post shared on social media on Wednesday, Stokes wrote: "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."

Stokes and his wife Clare got engaged in 2013 and were married in 2017. Their son, Layton, was born in 2012 and their daughter, Libby, was born three years later in 2015.