- Jockey Danny Nikolic charged over alleged Melbourne burglary
- Lawyer Pat Lennon also charged over alleged January 9 break-in
Champion Australian jockey Danny Nikolic and prominent lawyer Pat Lennon have been charged over an alleged burglary gone wrong in Melbourne.
The pair were allegedly arrested at an address in Carlton, on the outskirts of the CBD, at about 2am on January 9 after they allegedly filled bags with luxury goods, including jewellery and designer handbags.
It is alleged Nikolic and Lennon found themselves trapped inside the house by deadlocked doors.
Victoria Police said a witness saw two men breaking into a townhouse property and called Triple Zero.
Nikolic, 50, and Lennon, 61, allegedly used a ladder to climb onto the roof of the café next door before accessing the property through a balcony, according to The Age.
A second ladder was allegedly located in the laneway behind the house.
Champion Australian jockey Danny Nikolic (pictured) and prominent lawyer Pat Lennon have been charged over an alleged burglary in Melbourne
The pair were allegedly arrested at an address in Carlton, on the outskirts of the CBD, about 2am on January 9 (Nikolic is pictured, riding Starspangledbanner to victory in the Caulfield Guineas)
It is alleged Nikolic and Lennon found themselves trapped inside the house by deadlocked doors (Nikolic is pictured in Fiji, after his brother was arrested on drug offences in 2018)
Officers arrived soon after and the pair were arrested and later charged over the alleged incident.
‘The 61-year-old Sandringham man and 50-year-old Port Melbourne man were both interviewed and charged with burglary and theft,’ a Victoria Police statement said.
They will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on March 25.
Nikolic rode multiple Group One winners in his career, while Lennon was a well-known criminal lawyer who had Mick Gatto as one of his key clients.
In 2019, Nikolic’s brother John was jailed for 18 years in Fiji after he was sentenced for smuggling drugs, including cocaine.
Authorities at the time stated they found 13 bars of cocaine weighing 15 kilograms and worth about $20million, $15,000 worth of ecstasy tablets, two handguns, ammunition and $20,000 undeclared cash stashed on Nikolic’s yacht named Shenanigans.
Before their arrest, John Nikolic and his wife Yvette were being monitored after their yacht left Florida in the US, before stopping in Colombia and the Panama Canal before reaching Fiji.
A court ruling in Fiji later found there was no evidence to prove that Mrs Nikolic was complicit in the possession or importation of illicit drugs, or the possession of weapons.
Mrs Nikolic was then freed from custody.
