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Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

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

The group of four were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the gang arrived by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for targets and execute thefts.

On March 31 they took more than £1m of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring burglars, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with two weeks 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 incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".