🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2 million valued of goods, among them from ex- Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over £1m of items such as high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at more than £100,000.

After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, used gloves and masks, turned their phones on silent as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no assets or assets so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".