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Members of an Italian family of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of goods, including from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle three houses 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 and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 each while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while using another car to scout out targets and execute thefts.

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

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, valuables and footwear worth more than £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the amount due".