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Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of items, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

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

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

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court was told the gang came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over £1m of items such as high-end fashion, purses, 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 gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring burglars, used gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all entered admissions to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".