Isak Burglars Ordered to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Thefts

Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2 million valued of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 each.

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

The group of four were jailed for between a decade or less in May 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and execute burglaries.

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

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, switched their phones off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example operating in Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount due".