🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of England to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group came 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 service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore gloves and masks, turned their phones on silent as they neared their objectives 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 on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the sum outstanding".