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Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of items, among them from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of England to raid three houses in April 2024.

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as experienced touring burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their phones on silent 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 elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

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

The remaining members had no money or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".