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Members of an Italian family of thieves who took more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

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

On March 31 they took over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as experienced touring burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

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

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any money that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount due".