Alexander Isak Robbers Ordered to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Thefts
Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2 million valued of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle three houses in spring 2024.
The foursome were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.
Details of the Break-ins
The judge was told the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using another car to search for properties and carry out thefts.
On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.
The next evening, the crew entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, used hand coverings and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number 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.
Legal Hearings and Sentencing
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.
At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.
The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.
Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "for example driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".