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Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of items, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute thefts.

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

The following night, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "such as driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the sum outstanding".