A gang stole a sports car, jewellery worth £68,000 and up to £10,000 in cash from Alexander Isak's home
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Valentino Nikolov
Valentino Nikolov
A Midlands thief who joined three relatives as they raided the home of Premier League star Alexander Isak has been convicted by jurors.
A 'professional group of travelling burglars' - which included defendant Valentino Nikolov - swiped Isak's sports car, £68,000-worth of jewellery and up to £10,000 in cash.
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The Newcastle United and Sweden striker - who helped his side win the Carabao Cup at the weekend - was not at home when the thieves broke into the property through a glass door last April.
The crooks had already stolen jewellery and clothes worth more than £1 million and a CBE medal belonging to Tyneside businesswoman Helen McArdle.
They also made off with designer goods worth £100,000 from a woman in Whitburn, Sunderland, days earlier.
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Three members of the same family, living in Italy, admitted conspiracy to commit burglary.
Valentino, the fourth member of the family, denied the same charge.
But the 32-year-old was convicted by jurors on Tuesday, March 18, following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Judge Robert Spragg said he will sentence the thieves at a later date.
Prosecutor Dan Cordey told jurors how Isak left his home in Darras Hall, Northumberland, between 4pm and 10pm on April 4.
The footballer discovered he had been burgled when he returned and saw his bins had been moved.
The gang broke into his TV room, with an 'untidy search' taking place.
Isak told detectives he kept cash in bags upstairs, made up of notes and coins.
The amount stolen was between £5,000 and £10,000, he said.
The sportsman said bespoke men’s jewellery from Frost of London worth about £68,000 – made up of bracelets, necklaces and rings – was also stolen, along with his Audi RS6 estate car.
Jurors heard a member of the public later found the car abandoned and raised the alarm with police.
The gang also took a safe left by the previous tenant but it did not contain anything valuable, Mr Cordey said.
Isak told police he had never used the safe and had not been able to open it.
CCTV images of the break-in were captured 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.
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 before driving to the North East a few days later.
The gang used the Citroen to travel to break-ins, while the motorhome was a base where they slept.
Valentino, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham, represented himself and used an Italian interpreter in court.
His brother Giacomo Nikolov, 28, his sister Jela Jovanovic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who all reside in Italy, will be sentenced with him for conspiracy to commit burglary.
Safet Ramic - the 58-year-old dad of Valentino's former partner from Winson Street, Birmingham - was cleared of a single charge of handling stolen goods.
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.
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"This has enabled us to build a particularly robust prosecution case, which has been instrumental in securing convictions against those responsible for these offences."