Newcastle United striker, Alexander Isak was targeted by a gang of burglars who carried out a string of high-value break-ins, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.
The Swedish international’s Northumberland home was broken into last April, with police confirming at the time that a vehicle was stolen from the property before being found abandoned in nearby Dissington.
Isak is believed to be the third victim of the gang, who had already stolen jewellery and clothes worth more than £1milliion from a local businessman, jurors were told.
The court heard three members of the same family, living in Italy, admit to conspiracy to commit burglary. But a fourth, Valentino Nikolov, 32, denies the charge and is on trial.
Dan Cordey, prosecuting, said the suspected gang had arrived in the UK, via ferry from Calais to Dover in a Citroen C3 and a Ford motorhome, in March.
They made for London before driving to the north-east of England a few days later, Mr Cordey said.
News of the break-in surfaced days after the incident after the striker had featured for the Magpies in a win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
According to The Sun, the gang had targeted Isak’s home on the previous Thursday at around 10pm.
Officers responded and a police helicopter was dispatched but the intruders had fled the scene.
The prosecution claim that the first of the burglaries took place at the home of of Helen and Michael McCardle in Newcastle on March 30, while the couple were on holiday.
The gang stole her CBE medal, the prosecution said, in addition to clothes, jewellery, gold coins and handbags, totaling more than £1m.
The group were also responsible for a raid in Sunderland, where designer clothes, jewellery and cash were stolen to the value of more than £100,000, the prosecution said.
Valentino Nikolov, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham, is representing himself at the trial and requires an Italian interpreter.
Jurors have been told his brother, Giacomo Nikolov, 28, his sister Jela Jovanoic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23 – who all reside in Italy – have admitted conspiracy to commit burglary.
The trial continues.
Source: Linda Ikeji Blog