Alexander Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2m Heists

Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2m valued of goods, including from former NUFC forward Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

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

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing another car to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than £1m of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as experienced touring burglars, used gloves and masks, turned their phones off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited 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 was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the amount due".