Man guilty of burgling striker Isak's home
Getty ImagesA man has been found guilty of burgling three wealthy homes, including that of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
Valentino Nikolov, 32, was part of a professional gang of touring burglars which stole more than £1m worth of goods from three homes in the north-east of England, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
His sister, brother and nephew had previously admitted burgling the homes, with the gang to be sentenced at a future date.
A fifth man, 58-year-old Safet Ramic from Birmingham, was found not guilty of handling stolen goods.
Nikolov, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham, had represented himself during the trial with the aid of an Italian interpreter.
Jurors took less than two hours of deliberation to find him guilty.
NEROCUThe gang travelled to the North East three times from the Birmingham area to commit the crimes in April last year, the trial had heard.
They stole £1m worth of valuables, including a CBE medal, from a home in Jesmond, Newcastle, and designer shoes, handbags and jewellery worth £100,000 from a house in Whitburn, South Tyneside.
On 4 April, they broke into Mr Isak's home in Darras Hall, Ponteland, at about 20:00 BST, with the striker discovering the break in when he returned two hours later.
A glass door had been smashed and an "untidy search" of his home carried out, with up to £10,000 in cash and jewellery worth £68,000 stolen, the court heard.
The haul included bespoke men's bracelets, necklaces and rings from Frost of London, while the star's Audi RS6 estate car was taken and later found abandoned.
The gang also took a safe that had been left by a previous occupant but it was empty.
NEROCUJudge Robert Spragg said prison would be "inevitable" but he needed more information about Nikolov and his associates before determining their sentence.
Nikolov's brother Giacomo Nikolov, 28, their sister Jela Jovanoic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23 - who all reside in Italy - previously admitted conspiracy to commit burglary.
A pet camera in Mr Isak's living room captured Giacomo moving around the room, with him being identified in part by a distinctive PSG logo on his tracksuit bottoms.
The group was captured on CCTV at service stations in the region and travelled in a Citroen C3 using registration plates stolen from a car in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.
Det Con Mark Armstrong, of the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU), said it had been an "incredibly complex and comprehensive" investigation involving multiple police forces.
He said: "Burglaries are an insidious crime and cause a great amount of emotional and financial trauma to victims."