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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

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

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

At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while utilizing another car to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than £1m of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth 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 ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their phones off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor the prosecution 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 found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no money or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

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