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Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2 million valued of items, among them from ex- NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie travelled to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The group of four were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group 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 scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they took over £1m of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth more than £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they approached their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions 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 based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", 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 remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".