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Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who took more than £1.2m valued of items, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they stole more than one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional touring burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

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

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount due".