Isak Robbers Ordered to Pay Just £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts

Burglary suspects
Jela Jovanovic confessed to their involvement in the crimes

Individuals of an Italy-based clan of thieves who took more than £1.2 million worth of goods, among them from former NUFC forward Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The group of four were jailed for between a decade or less in May 2025.

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

Particulars of the Break-ins

The judge was told the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

Valentino Nikolov
Valentino Nikolov was the sole member of the foursome to contest burglary but was found guilty by jurors

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

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 April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, used gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Alexander Isak's home
Burglars took cash and jewelry worth £80,000 and an car from footballer Alexander Isak's property

Court Hearings 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 same charge.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey 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 found to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

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

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".

Trevor Boone
Trevor Boone

A tech journalist and software developer with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and digital transformation.