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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took more than £1.2 million valued of items, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group came by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for targets and execute burglaries.

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

The following night, the gang broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

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 authorities, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.

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

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum outstanding".