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Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who took more than £1.2 million worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 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 Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while utilizing another car to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of goods such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the court was informed, with two weeks to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

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 sum was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate further action to "recover the sum outstanding".