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

Burglary suspects
Jela Jovanovic confessed to participating in the burglaries

Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former NUFC forward Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 each.

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

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

At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole more than £1m of goods such as high-end fashion, purses, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

Valentino Nikolov
Valentino was the sole member of the foursome to deny burglary but was found guilty by the jury

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Alexander Isak's home
Thieves stole money and jewelry worth £80,000 and an Audi from footballer Alexander Isak's home

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 entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the court heard, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no money or property so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the money was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".

Kevin Armstrong
Kevin Armstrong

A seasoned digital marketer with over a decade of experience in SEO and content strategy, passionate about helping businesses thrive online.