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Members of an Italian family of thieves who stole more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge was told the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while using another car to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced itinerant burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they neared their targets and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

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

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "for example operating in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".