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

Burglary suspects
Jela Jovanovic admitted participating in the burglaries

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

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

The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

Valentino Nikolov
Valentino was the sole member of the group to deny the charge but was convicted by jurors

The following night, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Alexander Isak's home
Thieves stole cash and jewelry valued at £80,000 and an car from then-Newcastle United striker Isak's home

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or property so were directed to pay a token amount of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".

Joshua Reid
Joshua Reid

A technology strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and startup ecosystems across Europe.