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Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who took over £1.2 million worth of items, among them from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in spring 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out thefts.

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

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes worth over £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

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

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

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

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as operating Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".