Woman, 81, held over player raid

Leiva was at Anfield while the burglary took place

An 81-year-old woman is among five people arrested on suspicion of burgling the home of Liverpool footballer Lucas Leiva.

Raiders struck at the Woolton home of the 21-year-old Brazil midfielder as the Reds played Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on 5 November.

Police raided three houses and arrested three women, aged 19, 42 and 81, and two men, aged 21 and 45.

Police said they recovered an Olympic medal taken from Leiva in the burglary.

Leiva was the latest of a series of Liverpool players to be targeted by burglars.

In most cases, the thefts have happened while the footballers have been playing in matches.

Olympic bronze

The raid follows burglaries in the past 18 months at the homes of England dynamo Steven Gerrard, Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt, goalkeeper Pepe Reina, defender Daniel Agger and former players Peter Crouch and Jerzy Dudek.

Warrants were executed at properties in the Norris Green and West Derby areas of the city on Thursday night.

Merseyside Police said they recovered a number of items taken from Leiva's home.

A spokesman said: "Police can confirm that Mr Leiva's Olympic bronze medal, from this year's Beijing Olympics that was taken during the burglary, has been recovered."

He said the five were being held at police stations on Merseyside for questioning.