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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole more than £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle three houses in April 2024.

The group of four were jailed for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute thefts.

On 31 March they stole over £1m of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Sweden 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 player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices on silent as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited 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 found to have any money that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "such as driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".