CRICKET ACE FAMILY TRAGEDY
Stokes slams ‘heartless’ story
LONDON: England cricketer Ben Stokes has hit back online after a family tragedy was retold by a British newspaper. On Tuesday, The Sun reported Stokes had a half-brother and sister who were both murdered in New Zealand by his mother’s former partner in 1988 — three years before Stokes’ birth. Tracey, 8, and Andrew, 4, were shot in Christchurch by their father Richard Dunn before he turned the gun on himself. It was reported that Dunn flew into a jealous rage after Stokes’s mother Deb started a new relationship with Gerard Stokes. Following publication, Ben Stokes — who became a national superstar on the cricket field during the World Cup and Ashes tests — hit back on Twitter about the “extremely painful, sensitive and personal details concerning events in the private lives of my family going back more than 31 years”. In a statement that received thousands of likes, he said: “For more than three decades, my family has worked hard to deal with the private trauma inevitably associated with these events and has taken great care to keep private what were deeply personal and traumatic events. “I cannot conceive of anything more immoral, heartless or contemptuous to the feelings and circumstances of my family.” Stokes also said the article has “grave and lifelong consequences”, for his mum in particular. A spokesman for The Sun said the newspaper had the “utmost sympathy” for Ben Stokes but said the story was told with co-operation of a family member who supplied details and provided pictures.
“The tragedy is also a matter of public record and was the subject of extensive front page publicity in New Zealand at the time,” the spokesman said.
Stokes has never spoken publicly about his family’s tragedy. A source in the original article said his birth gave his mother “something to live for”.
“Ben was born at a time of terrible tragedy. Deb was enduring every parent’s worst possible nightmare and his arrival gave her something to live for,” the source told The Sun.
“It’s incredible that he’s achieved so much as a cricketer and made her so proud.”
Jacqui Dunn — the killer’s daughter from a previous marriage — spoke publicly about the tragedy for the first time.
The office worker, now 49, was 18 at the time of the murders and says she can remember the “terrible shock” of hearing the news, The Sun reported.
She said: “I couldn’t believe dad would do such a thing. It was just horrible.
“Deb was so angry and traumatised she kicked the coffin at his funeral and I’ve never seen or heard from her since.
“And I had absolutely no idea she’s had another son who became an England cricket star.”
The children’s gravestones describe them as the “much loved and loving children of Deborah”.