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Members of an Italian family of thieves who stole over £1.2m worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for between a decade or less in 2025.

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

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of items such as designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

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

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

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the amount outstanding".