🔗 Share this article

Individuals of an Italy-based family of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from ex- NUFC striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie travelled to the northeastern of England to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

The group of four were jailed for from a decade or less in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to search for targets and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they took more than £1m of items including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

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

At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".