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

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime proceeding at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of items including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

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

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or assets so were directed to make a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the result if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".