🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who stole more than £1.2 million valued of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 each.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime proceeding at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group arrived by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute thefts.

On 31 March they took over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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

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