Alexander Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Heists
Members of an Italian family of thieves who took over £1.2 million worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of England to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.
The group of four were imprisoned for between a decade or less in May 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over £1,135.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The court previously heard the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using another car to scout out properties and execute thefts.
On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.
The following night, the crew entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices on silent as they approached their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.
Court Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.
At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the result if the sum was not paid.
The 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".