Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Thefts

Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who took more than £1.2 million valued of items, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in spring 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using another car to search for targets and carry out thefts.

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

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as experienced touring burglars, used hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they approached their objectives and strapped 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 April 13.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no money or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "recover the amount outstanding".