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Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2m worth of items, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of England to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

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

Particulars of the Break-ins

The judge previously heard the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they stole more than £1m of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, 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 taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino 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 crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or assets so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the result if the sum was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".