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Members of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.

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

The foursome were imprisoned for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, 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, valuables and shoes valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money 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.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the amount outstanding".