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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for from six and 10 years in 2025.

At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 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 over one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth over £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring burglars, used gloves and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, 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", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount outstanding".