Champion jockey Danny Nikolic and disgraced underworld lawyer Patrick Lennon have been arrested and charged with theft offences after allegedly becoming trapped inside a Carlton home while trying to steal a swag of luxury handbags and jewellery.
Police were called to the three-storey townhouse of a wealthy Melbourne businessman in the early hours of Thursday morning following a neighbour’s report of a break-in.
Patrick Lennon and Danny Nikolic.Credit:
Both men were arrested at the scene after they allegedly filled bags with luxury goods and then found themselves trapped inside the house by deadlocked doors.
Police confirmed a 61-year-old man from Sandringham and a 50-year-old Port Melbourne man had been arrested at a house in Berkeley Street in Carlton about 2am on Thursday. The pair were interviewed and later charged with burglary and theft.
Lennon and Nikolic, who did not respond to requests for comment, will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in March.
The Melbourne businessman, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity to protect the privacy of his family, confirmed the bungled break-in. He said nobody was home at the time.
The man said he had arrived home about 2.45am on Thursday after being alerted to the burglary and found six police officers at the house.
A witness to the break-in had called triple zero about 2am, police said.
Nikolic and Lennon allegedly used a ladder to climb onto the roof of the cafe next door before breaking into the property through a balcony. A second ladder was found in the laneway behind the house.
