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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2 million worth of items, including from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

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

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute thefts.

On March 31 they stole more than £1m of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as experienced itinerant thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices on silent as they neared their targets and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor 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 affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the amount due".