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Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of England to raid three houses in spring 2024.

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

At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing another car to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their phones on silent as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, 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 defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount due".