Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Heists

Individuals of an Italy-based clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2 million worth of items, including from ex- NUFC striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

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

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of items including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no money or assets so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".