Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Heists

Members of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2m valued of items, among them from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 each.

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

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

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing another car to search for properties and execute thefts.

On March 31 they took over £1m of items such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as experienced itinerant thieves, used gloves and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "for example operating in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".