🔗 Share this article

Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who took more than £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie journeyed to the north-east of England to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group arrived by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for properties and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of items such as high-end fashion, purses, jewellery 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 home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and masks, switched their mobile devices off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to 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 the prosecution said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".