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Members of an Italian family of thieves who stole over £1.2 million valued of items, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 each.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of England to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for from a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

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

On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

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 same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or property so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the money was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or owning a property", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".