Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who took more than £1.2 million valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in May 2025.
At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The judge previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out thefts.
On March 31 they took more than £1m of items including high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.
The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, 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 masks, switched their mobile devices on silent as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.
Court Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.
At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in jail if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.
The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".
