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Individuals of an Italian family of thieves who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, including from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

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

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using another car to search for targets and execute thefts.

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

The next evening, the gang entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices on silent as they approached their targets and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".