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Members of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2m valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

The group of four were jailed for between six and 10 years in 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using another car to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of items including high-end fashion, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The following night, the crew broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices on silent as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the court was informed, with 14 days to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no assets or assets so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".