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Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2 million worth of items, among them from former NUFC forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to search for targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than £1m of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring thieves, used gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices on silent as they neared their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied 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 proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or assets so were directed to pay a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".