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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie journeyed to the north-east of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The judge previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and carry out burglaries.

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

The following night, the crew broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery 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 residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as experienced itinerant thieves, wore gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".