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Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who took over £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they stole more than £1m of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all entered admissions to the same charge.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.

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

The 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 home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "recover the amount due".