West Midlands burglar guilty of break-in at Premier League star Isak’s home

A thief who joined three family members in breaking into the home of Premier League star Alexander Isak and stealing his sports car, jewellery worth £68,000 and up to £10,000 in cash has been convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary.

The Newcastle United and Sweden striker, who helped his side win the Carabao Cup at the weekend, was not in his house when what the prosecution described as a “professional group of travelling burglars” broke in through a glass door last April.

The thieves had already stolen jewellery and clothes worth more than £1 million and the CBE medal belonging to Tyneside businesswoman Helen McArdle, and designer goods worth £100,000 from a woman in Whitburn, Sunderland, in the previous days.

Three members of the same family, living in Italy, admitted conspiracy to commit burglary.

A fourth family member, Valentino Nikolov, 32 - who was in Birmingham - denied the charge but was convicted on Tuesday following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Judge Robert Spragg said he will sentence the group later.

Dan Cordey, prosecuting, told jurors how Isak left his home in Darras Hall, Northumberland, between 4pm and 10pm on April 4, and he discovered the break-in when he returned and saw his bins had been moved.

The gang broke into his TV room and “inside an untidy search took place”, Mr Cordey said.

Isak told detectives that he kept cash in bags upstairs, made up of notes of varying denominations as well as coins, and the amount taken was between £5,000 and £10,000.

He said bespoke men’s jewellery from Frost of London worth about £68,000 – made up of bracelets, necklaces and rings – was taken, along with his Audi RS6 estate car.

Jurors heard a member of the public later found the car abandoned and called the police.

The gang also took a safe, which had been left by the home’s previous tenant, although it did not contain anything valuable, Mr Cordey said.

Isak told police he had never used the safe and he had not been able to open it.

CCTV images of the break-in were recorded on what Mr Cordey described as a “doggy cam”.

The prosecution said: “This was a professional group of travelling burglars.

“It contained one female and three men – all related.

“Two of those men and one female have admitted their part in pleading guilty.”

Mr Cordey said the fourth man was the defendant Valentino Nikolov.

The gang arrived in the UK via a ferry from Calais to Dover in a Citroen C3 and a Ford motorhome last March.

They headed to London then drove to the North East a few days later, the court has heard.

The gang used the Citroen to travel to break-ins and the motorhome was a base where they slept.

Nikolov, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham, represented himself and used an Italian interpreter.

His brother Giacomo Nikolov, 28, his sister Jela Jovanovic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who all reside in Italy, will be sentenced along with him for conspiracy to commit burglary.

Safet Ramic, who is the 58-year-old father of Valentino Nikolov’s former partner, and who is from Winson Street, Birmingham, was cleared of a single charge of handling stolen goods.

Outside court, Detective Constable Mark Armstrong, of the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU), said: “This is a fantastic result, which has been the outcome of an incredibly complex and comprehensive police investigation by several police partners.

“Burglaries are an insidious crime and causes a great amount of emotional and financial trauma to victims.”

Christopher Atkinson, head of CPS North East’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has worked closely with the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit throughout this complex investigation.

“It is testament to the quality of that investigation, especially the effective partnership work between multiple police forces, that we have been provided with such a significant amount of evidence.

“This has enabled us to build a particularly robust prosecution case, which has been instrumental in securing convictions against those responsible for these offences.”