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Members of an Italian family of thieves who took more than £1.2m valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for between a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group came by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were away.

The next evening, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear valued at over £100,000.

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

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".