Alexander Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Heists

Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who stole over £1.2 million worth of items, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

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

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

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing another car to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they took over £1m of items including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, used gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in prison the result if the money was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".