Alexander Isak Burglars Instructed to Repay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Heists

Burglary suspects
Giacomo Nikolov confessed to their involvement in the burglaries

Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who took more than £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of England to raid three houses in April 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in May 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group arrived by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while using another car to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

Valentino Nikolov
Valentino was the sole member of the foursome to deny burglary but was convicted by the jury

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at over £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence 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 £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they approached their targets and attached a number plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Alexander Isak's home
Thieves stole money and jewelry valued at eighty thousand pounds and an Audi from then-Newcastle United striker Isak's home

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount 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 court heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".

Morgan Robbins
Morgan Robbins

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in curating premium online resources and tools.