Isak Robbers Ordered to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2m Heists
Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former NUFC striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.
The foursome were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in 2025.
At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The court previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for properties and execute burglaries.
On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.
The next evening, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, used gloves and face coverings, turned their mobile devices on silent as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.
They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.
At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.
The other three had no money or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".