Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Thefts

Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of items, among them from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the result if the sum was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".