🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.

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

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The judge previously heard the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using another car to search for targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than £100,000.

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

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their phones off as they neared their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no money or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount due".