Alexander Isak Robbers Instructed to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2m Thefts

Burglary suspects
Charlie Jovanovic confessed to participating in the crimes

Individuals of an Italian family of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

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

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

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

The following night, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and face coverings, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Alexander Isak's home
Thieves took money and jewelry valued at eighty thousand pounds and an car from footballer Isak's home

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was convicted 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 every one of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

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

The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".

James Harmon
James Harmon

Urban planner and writer with over a decade of experience in sustainable city development and community-focused design projects.