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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2m valued of goods, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 each.

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

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

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

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

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".