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Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to raid three houses in spring 2024.

The group of four were jailed for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court was told the group arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using another car to search for properties and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they took over one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or assets so were directed to pay a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the result if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".