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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who took more than £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 each.

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

The group of four were imprisoned for from a decade or less 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 must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced itinerant burglars, used gloves and face coverings, turned their phones off as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".