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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who took more than £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

The foursome were jailed for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

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

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using another car to search for properties and execute thefts.

On 31 March they stole over £1m of items such as high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, valuables and shoes worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring thieves, wore gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".