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Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute thefts.

On 31 March they took over £1m of items including high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, valuables and shoes worth over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their phones off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example operating in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".