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Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court was told the group came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using another car to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of items such as high-end fashion, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring burglars, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their phones off as they neared their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

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

The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example operating Italy in a fast car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the sum due".