Alexander Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Heists

Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from ex- NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back just £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in April 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for from a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed 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 carry out thefts.

On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of goods such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring burglars, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices on silent as they approached their targets and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or assets so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum due".