Football star Alexander Isak was left "unnerved" after his mansion was targeted by a criminal gang who stole £68K worth of bespoke jewellery and up to £10K in cash.
The travelling burglars targeted the Newcastle United striker's home as well as two other plush properties in the North East of England last year.
Footy ace Isak wasn't in at the time of the raid but when he returned home at 10pm on April 4 last year he found his outside bins in his TV room.
Alexander Isak of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's fifth goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Crystal Palace FC at St James' Park on April 16, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Alexander Isak of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's fifth goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Crystal Palace FC at St James' Park on April 16, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Alexander Isak of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's fifth goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Crystal Palace FC at St James' Park on April 16, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Newcastle Crown Court heard that footage obtained from his "doggy cam" captured the raiders, who had travelled from Italy to raid luxury homes in the UK, lurking around his upmarket property in the Darras Hall area of Northumberland.
The 25-year-old's Audi sports car was also taken in the raid but later recovered, with some damage to the boot.Brothers Valentino Nikolov, 32, and Giacomo Nikolov, 28, their sister Jela Jovanovic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who had all travelled from Italy to the UK to raid luxury houses, were later traced by police and arrested.
The court heard an embedded sim card in a Citroen C3 motor used by the raiders showed they had hung around Newcastle United training ground to carry out surveillance on the footballer and establish his movements or find out where he or other players lived.A mobile phone seized when the raiders were arrested contained pictures of Isak playing football.
Valentino Nikolov denied conspiracy to commit burglary, which the other three had admitted, and was convicted by a jury after a trial.All four will be sentenced today.In an impact statement, Isak said he has lived in the North East since August 2022 and added: "I have not experienced any problems with either criminal or other behaviour which negatively impacted on my well being.
“Things changed however on April 4 2024 when, following an evening at a colleague's house I returned to my home address to find I had been burgled and my car stolen from the drive.
"It appeared that a significant level of force had been used to attack the property and a large safe had been thrown over an upstairs balcony.
"An internal wall had been destroyed in order to remove the safe. My car had been used as a battering ram to force through the gates to my house."None of the property stolen from my home was ever recovered.
"The attack on my home has left me with a sense of unease and I fear it could re-occur now the thieves know the layout and entry points to my home.
"There has, from what I have been told, been a level of sophistication in planning and execution of the attack on my home, which I also find unnerving.
"I cannot deny I feel a sense of unease when I live and return to my home."
As well as targeting Isak's home, the group raided a property in leafy Jesmond, Newcastle, where £1 million worth of property was stolen.
They also struck at a separate house in Whitburn, South Tyneside, where designer goods valued at over £100,000 were taken.
The court heard the raiders arrived in the country via a ferry to Dover from Calais on March 27 before a stop off in London before they made their way north via a Ford motorhome and Citroen C3 which were captured on CCTV.
Prosecutor Daniel Cordey said: "It is the prosecution case that they all travelled to the North East together as part of that conspiracy or agreement to commit high value targeted burglaries of residential properties."
Mr Cordey said the gang were "forensically aware", took time to cover their movements by swapping sim cards out of their regular phones and wore gloves and masks during the break-ins.
Isak's mansion was the last of the three raids and Mr Cordey told the court: "That property was left unoccupied between 1600 hours and 10pm on the 4th of April of 2024.
"The burglary was discovered when the Mr Isak returned just after 10pm. He found his bins had been moved and entry had been gained by smashing a glass door leading from the back of the property to the TV room.
"Inside an untidy search had taken place and cash to the value of between £5,000 and £10,000 had been stolen together with jewellery valued at about £68,000.
"A Dudley safe left by the previous occupant was also stolen from the property.
"The keys to Mr Isak's motor vehicle were also taken. It was an Audi, it was then stolen but later found abandoned after a report from a member of the public who called the police.
"Inside the property was CCTV. That CCTV showed three men in the living room.
"One of those males, the prosecution says, can be identified as Giacomo Nikolov. He's wearing distinctive tracksuit bottoms with a PSG football club logo on the right leg.
"A head torch was later found, believed to have been worn by one of the four during the raid.Jurors were told that the first of the burglaries took place at Clayton House in Jesmond, Newcastle, where homeowners Michael and Helen McCardle had left to go on holiday on March 30, 2024.”
A few days later a maintenance manager discovered the home had been broken into via the first floor.
Further searches revealed the disappearance of a CBE medal along with gold coins, high value watches, and designer clothes and handbags, totaling over £1m.Some of the stolen property was recovered but a large amount of property, including irreplaceable items of jewellery, has never been found.
Mrs McCardle said in an impact statement she had been awarded the CBE by the late Queen, for services to care home businesses in the community and added: "This award was one of the proudest moments of my working life, something I treasured dearly.
"They stole it. It has no value to them but they took it and I will most probably never get it back. I intended to pass this down to my family as an importand family heirloom."
Mrs McCardle said she and her husband always considered their home as a safe place but added: "Now I constantly think it could happen again, every time I go away.
"The thieves have not only stolen our belongings but, just as important, have stolen our privacy and security.
"The group then raided a house in the gated cul-de-sac of Woodlands Grove in Whitburn, around 15 miles from Newcastle.The homeowner Stephanie Stokoe returned to the address at 3pm on April 3 to find her patio doors open and over £100k of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and shoes were missing.
An untidy search had been made inside the property and she described her wardrobe as "trashed" with doors left open and items thrown onto the floor.
Ms Stokoe said in her impact statement she was left feeling "unsafe" in her home and lost precious gifts from her father, who had recently died, in the raid.She said what happened to her was "traumatic".
Mr Cordey told jurors that the Ford motorhome was found almost two weeks after the raids, in Birmingham and inside officers discovered designer handbags and purses linked to the crimes.
On April 13, the Citroen C3 was tracked to Walsall in the West Midlands where the occupants changed the number plates. The vehicle was pursued but stopped and inside were the four burglars.
The raid at Alexander Isak's mansion had an affect on his club, as well as him personally.
Glen Patterson, Newcastle United's player liaison officer made an impact statement which was read at the sentence hearing of the four burglars.
Mr Patterson said he has to convince potential recruits at the club that Newcastle is a safe and secure place for them and their families.
He added: "Until around 18 months ago I was proud to be able to tell the players that we didn't have any issues whatsoever with players being targeted for crimes and the area was an exceptionally safe place to live."
Mr Patterson said this burglary as well as other burglaries and attempted burglaries targeted at players has had an impact on the team and the club.
He said there has now been an extensive review on player safety and there has been significant investment in security and the incidents have caused rumours to spread and players to moderate their social media postings.
Mr Patterson added: "I do try not to be alarmist or over reactive when I say these crimes have had an impact on the club which cannot be overstated in respect of player recruitment and retention. Any negative connotations to the area have a direct impact on player welfare."
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