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Members of an Italian family of thieves who took over £1.2 million worth of items, among them from ex- Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in spring 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Break-ins

The judge previously heard the gang came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using another car to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole more than one million pounds of items including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear valued at more than £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, used gloves and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.

The remaining members 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 paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".