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Members of an Italy-based clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2 million worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.

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

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional touring burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices on silent as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the amount outstanding".