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A criminal gang who made over £1m by targeting luxury homes including football star Alexander Isak's mansion have been ordered to pay back as little as £1 each.
The travelling burglars left the former Newcastle United striker "unnerved" when they took £68K worth of bespoke jewellery and up to £10K in cash from his plush property.
The footy ace, who now plays for Liverpool FC and his native Sweden, was not in at the time of the raid but when he returned home at 10pm on April 4 last year he found his outside bins in his TV room.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that footage obtained from his "doggy cam" captured the raiders, who had travelled from Italy to raid luxury homes in the UK, lurking around his upmarket property in the Darras Hall area of Northumberland.
The 26-year-old's Audi sports car was also taken in the raid but later recovered, with some damage to the boot.
Brothers Valentino Nikolov, 32, and Giacomo Nikolov, 28, their sister Jela Jovanovic, 43, and her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who had all travelled from Italy to the UK to raid luxury houses, were later traced by police and arrested.
PAY BACK: Giacomo Nikolov, Jela Jovanovic and Charlie Jovanovic admitted their involvement in the luxury raidsplaceholder image
PAY BACK: Giacomo Nikolov, Jela Jovanovic and Charlie Jovanovic admitted their involvement in the luxury raids | SUBMITTED
Earlier Valentino Nikolov, 32, who has previous convictions for theft in Italy and burglary in Switzerland, was jailed for ten years.
JAILED: Valentino Nikolov was the only one of the foursome to deny burglary but was found guilty after a trialplaceholder image
JAILED: Valentino Nikolov was the only one of the foursome to deny burglary but was found guilty after a trial | Submitted
Giacomo Nikolov, 28, who also has convictions for theft, got eight years.
Getaway driver Jela Jovanovic, 43, got seven years and two months.
And her son Charlie Jovanovic, 23, who has a previous conviction for burglary in Switzerland, was jailed for six years and nine months.
All four were back in court today for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Prosecutor Daniel Cordey said the gang benefited by £1,266,285.93 through their crimes.
Judge Robert Spragg ordered £1,135.50, which was found by the police in a motor home used by the gang, to be paid back by Charlie Jovanovic.
The other three were found to have no assets and have been ordered to pay back £1 each.
The court heard at the previous hearing an embedded sim card in a Citroen C3 motor used by the raiders showed they had hung around Newcastle United training ground to carry out surveillance on the footballer and establish his movements or find out where he or other players lived.
A mobile phone seized when the raiders were arrested contained pictures of Isak playing football.
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AFP via Getty Images
In an impact statement, Isak said he had lived in the North East since August 2022 and added: "I have not experienced any problems with either criminal or other behaviour which negatively impacted on my well being.
"Things changed however on April 4 2024 when, following an evening at a colleague's house I returned to my home address to find I had been burgled and my car stolen from the drive.
"It appeared that a significant level of force had been used to attack the property and a large safe had been thrown over an upstairs balcony.
"An internal wall had been destroyed in order to remove the safe. My car had been used as a battering ram to force through the gates to my house.
"None of the property stolen from my home was ever recovered.
"The attack on my home has left me with a sense of unease and I fear it could re-occur now the thieves know the layout and entry points to my home.
"There has, from what I have been told, been a level of sophistication in planning and execution of the attack on my home, which I also find unnerving.
"I cannot deny I feel a sense of unease when I live and return to my home."
As well as targeting Isak's home, the group raided a property in leafy Jesmond, Newcastle, where £1 million worth of property was stolen.
They also struck at a separate house in Whitburn, South Tyneside, where designer goods valued at over £100,000 were taken.
The court heard the raiders arrived in the country via a ferry to Dover from Calais before a stop off in London and they then made their way north via a Ford motorhome and Citroen C3 which were captured on CCTV.
Mr Cordey said: "It is the prosecution case that they all travelled to the North East together as part of that conspiracy or agreement to commit high value targeted burglaries of residential properties."
Mr Cordey said the gang were "forensically aware", took time to cover their movements by swapping sim cards out of their regular phones and wore gloves and masks during the break-ins.
Isak's mansion was the last of the three raids and Mr Cordey told the court: "That property was left unoccupied between 1600 hours and 10pm on the 4th of April of 2024.
"The burglary was discovered when the Mr Isak returned just after 10pm. He found his bins had been moved and entry had been gained by smashing a glass door leading from the back of the property to the TV room.
"Inside, an untidy search had taken place and cash to the value of between £5,000 and £10,000 had been stolen together with jewellery valued at about £68,000.
"A Dudley safe left by the previous occupant was also stolen from the property.
"The keys to Mr Isak's motor vehicle were also taken. It was an Audi, it was then stolen but later found abandoned after a report from a member of the public who called the police.
"Inside the property was CCTV. That CCTV showed three men in the living room.
"One of those males, the prosecution says, can be identified as Giacomo Nikolov. He's wearing distinctive tracksuit bottoms with a PSG football club logo on the right leg."
A head torch was later found, believed to have been worn by one of the four during the raid.
The first of the burglaries took place at Clayton House in Jesmond, Newcastle, where homeowners Michael and Helen McCardle had left to go on holiday on March 30, 2024.
A few days later a maintenance manager discovered the home had been broken into via the first floor.
Further searches revealed the disappearance of a CBE medal along with gold coins, high value watches, and designer clothes and handbags, totalling over £1m.
Some of the stolen property was recovered but a large amount of property, including irreplaceable items of jewellery, has never been found.
Mrs McCardle said in an impact statement she had been awarded the CBE by the late Queen, for services to care home businesses in the community and added: "This award was one of the proudest moments of my working life, something I treasured dearly.
"They stole it. It has no value to them but they took it and I will most probably never get it back. I intended to pass this down to my family as an important family heirloom."
Mrs McCardle said she and her husband always considered their home as a safe place but added: "Now I constantly think it could happen again, every time I go away.
"The thieves have not only stolen our belongings but, just as important, have stolen our privacy and security."
The group then raided a house in the gated cul-de-sac of Woodlands Grove in Whitburn, around 15 miles from Newcastle.
The homeowner Stephanie Stokoe returned to the address at 3pm on April 3 to find her patio doors open and over £100k of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and shoes were missing.
An untidy search had been made inside the property and she described her wardrobe as "trashed" with doors left open and items thrown onto the floor.
Ms Stokoe said in her impact statement she was left feeling "unsafe" in her home and lost precious gifts from her father, who had recently died, in the raid.
She said what happened to her was "traumatic".
Mr Cordey told jurors that the Ford motorhome was found almost two weeks after the raids, in Birmingham and inside officers discovered designer handbags and purses linked to the crimes.
On April 13, the Citroen C3 was tracked to Walsall in the West Midlands where the occupants changed the number plates.
The vehicle was pursued but stopped and inside were the four burglars.
All four defendants face deportation after they have served the jail terms.
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