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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.

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

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge was told the gang arrived by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they took over £1m of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

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

The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "for example driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".