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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2m valued of items, among them from former NUFC striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring burglars, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, 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 previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent 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 seven days in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.

Judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".