🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group arrived by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to search for targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they stole more than one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then acted at the residence of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing 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 described by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, used gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

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

The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".