Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts

Members of an Italian family of thieves who took more than £1.2m worth of items, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the result if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount due".