🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italian clan of thieves who stole over £1.2 million valued of items, among them from former NUFC striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie journeyed to the north-east of England to raid three houses in spring 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to pay back £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing another car to search for properties and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they took over £1m of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then struck at the residence of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and masks, turned their phones on silent as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

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

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, 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 already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the amount outstanding".