🔗 Share this article

Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole more than £1.2 million worth of goods, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to raid three houses in April 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the gang came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of items including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

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

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.

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

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".