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Tyneside and Northumberland stories from this week

News imagePA/National Trust A close-up shot of a tern with its striking red beak open. It is sitting in a brown straw nest snuggling with two fluffy brown and white chicks whose heads are visible below its white, folded wing. The adult tern's head is half black and the rest of it is snow-like white. PA/National Trust
The Arctic terns population has leapt by 26% in a year to 519 nesting pairs

A Jason Momoa scammer conned a woman out of thousands, a park maze misused as a "public toilet" and a Sycamore Gap sapling has been planted at a hospital.

Here are five stories from across Tyneside and Northumberland you might have missed this week.

Isak burglars to pay £1 back from £1.2m thefts

News imageNEROCU Mugshots of Giacomo Nikolov, Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic. Giacomo has long black hair and a black beard, Jela has thick long black hair and Charlie has a long black fringe and a faint moustache.NEROCU
Giacomo Nikolov, Jela Jovanovic and Charlie Jovanovic admitted their involvement

Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to raid three houses in April 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

'How I lost £80K to fake Jason Momoa Facebook scammers'

News imageMaria Moratti/Getty Images Jason Momoa attending the Cartier Glory To The Filmmaker Award 2025 and the "In the Hand of Dante" red carpet during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. He has long, wavy dark brown hair and a dark beard. He is wearing a pink suit jacket over a white shirt which is partially unbuttoned and black rimmed sunglasses. The blurred image of photographers can be seen behind him.Maria Moratti/Getty Images
Criminals posed as Jason Momoa, his agents, lawyers, bank manager and daughter to con Jane

A woman conned out of tens of thousands of pounds by scammers who posed as Hollywood actor Jason Momoa says she was left feeling "ripped to bits". Now she hopes sharing her story will prevent others falling for similar crimes.

Jane, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was contacted on social media by an account claiming to be that of a true Hollywood A-lister.

"We just got to talking on Facebook," she recalled.

"He asked me if I'd seen his films and I said 'yes', then he asked me to move on to WhatsApp as it's encrypted and it's safer as he's a celebrity."

Park maze misused as 'public toilet' removed

News imageLocal Democracy Reporting Service The section of the park where the maze previously stood. The blue tennis and basketball courts are partially visible in the right hand side of the image and are surrounded by a tall, green fence. The area where the maze was now consists of low cut grass with large brown patches. There are paths and trees around the area.Local Democracy Reporting Service
The area in Leazes Park was said to have been a magnet for drug use and anti-social behaviour

A maze in a city centre park has been removed after people started to use it as a makeshift "public toilet".

Newcastle City Council has cut down the hedgerow maze in Leazes Park due to complaints that it attracted drug users and anti-social behaviour.

Bosses said the attraction, designed and planted by schoolchildren as part of the park's 2004 restoration, had not resembled a maze for years and had become an eyesore.

The area it occupied, next to the park's tennis and basketball courts, will be landscaped with grass and trees. Residents have been promised a consultation over any future plans for the site.

Island bird counts reveal mixed picture

News imageNational Trust Four puffins are standing on a grey and white rock. They are clustered together, with two looking right, and two looking left. They have orange, yellow and dark blue beaks, with a white chest, orange feet, and black colouring on the tops of their heads, down their back. In the background, the sea is visible, but it is blurred out, to bring the focus to the puffins.National Trust
The Farne Islands is an internationally significant sanctuary for 200,000 seabirds each year

Bird counts on an island haven for seabirds have revealed a mixed picture.

The number of puffin breeding pairs on the Farne Islands in Northumberland has dropped by 23% in a year from 50,103 to 38,500 breeding pairs, the National Trust said.

However, it cautioned against interpreting the drop as a sudden population decline after the island was hit by bird flu and storms in recent years which killed thousands.

The annual count also revealed Arctic terns had increased by more than 26% from 410 to 519 nesting pairs and it was important the "broader context of global trends" was taken into account, the trust said.

Sycamore Gap tree sapling planted at hospital

News imageJim Scott/BBC Damon Kent and Marion Dickson crouched down and looking into the camera with big smiles. Mr Kent is on the left and is holding the sapling in his hand with is a long, thin stick standing in a chunk of soil. He has short, brown hair and is wearing a blue coat, dark trousers and brown shoes. Ms Dickson is holding a shovel in her hand and has blonde short hair. She is wearing all black and has gloves on. The grass has been dug up on the left of them and turned up grass can be seen behind them. They are in front of the hospital which is a glass-fronted, large brick building.Jim Scott/BBC
The sapling was planted by Damon Kent and director of nursing and midwifery Marion Dickson

A sapling from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree has been planted in the grounds of a hospital.

It has been given pride of place outside the entrance to Hexham General Hospital in Northumberland as part of the National Trust's Tree of Hope initiative.

The young tree is one of 49 saplings to be planted across the UK - the first two were in Coventry and Staffordshire last week, but this is the first in the north-east of England.

Damon Kent, from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said the tree had been "so special" to people in the county and it was a "fitting" place for it to grow.

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