🔗 Share this article

Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who stole over £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they took more than £1m of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear valued at more than £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and face coverings, turned 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 elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, 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 affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".