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A “professional group of travelling burglars” broke into the Newcastle striker Alexander Isak’s home and stole his car, jewellery worth about £68,000 and up to £10,000 in cash, a court has heard. The Sweden international was not in the house in Northumberland when the gang broke in through a glass door last April.
The thieves had already stolen jewellery and clothes worth more than £1m from a Tyneside businesswoman and designer goods worth £100,000 from a woman living on Wearside in the previous days, the court heard. Three members of the same family, living in Italy, have admitted conspiracy to commit burglary. A fourth family member, Valentino Nikolov, 32, denies the charge.
Dan Cordey, prosecuting, said Isak left his home between 4pm and 10pm on 4 April and 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”, Cordey said.
Cash between £5,000 and £10,000 was taken, along with jewellery worth about £68,000 and Isak’s Audi car, which a member of the public later found abandoned, jurors were told. The gang also took a safe, which had been left by the home’s previous occupant, although it did not contain anything valuable, Cordey said. CCTV images of the break-in were recorded on what Cordey described as a “doggy cam”.
He 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.” Cordey said the fourth man was Valentino Nikolov.
The gang arrived in the UK via a ferry from Calais to Dover in a Citroën C3 and a Ford motorhome last March. They headed to London, then drove to the north-east a few days later, the court heard. The gang used the Citroën to travel to break-ins and the motorhome was a base where they slept, the prosecution claimed.
Nikolov, from Birmingham, is representing himself and requires an Italian interpreter. Jurors have been told his brother Giacomo Nikolov, 28, his sister Jela Jovanovic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who live in Italy, have admitted conspiracy to commit burglary.
Safet Ramic, the father of Valentino Nikolov’s former partner, denies handling stolen goods. The trial continues.
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