Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Thefts
Members of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2 million worth of goods, among them from ex- Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for from six and 10 years in May 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The judge previously heard the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute burglaries.
On 31 March they took over one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.
The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.
The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.
But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or assets so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the result if the sum was not submitted.
Judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "for example operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".
