Alexander Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Just £1 Each from £1.2m Heists

Burglary suspects
Giacomo Nikolov admitted participating in the burglaries

Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, among them from ex- NUFC striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

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

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown 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 United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

Valentino Nikolov
Valentino was the only one of the group to contest burglary but was found guilty by jurors

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced itinerant burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Alexander Isak's home
Burglars took money and jewellery worth eighty thousand pounds and an Audi from footballer Alexander Isak's home

Court Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".

Karen Boyd MD
Karen Boyd MD

A passionate sports analyst with over a decade of experience in betting strategies and market trends.