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Individuals of an Italian family of thieves who took over £1.2m worth of items, among them from ex- Newcastle United forward Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the northeastern of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as experienced touring burglars, wore hand coverings and masks, turned their phones off as they neared their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had denied the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer the prosecution said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, 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 result if the sum was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example operating in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".