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Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2m valued of items, including from former NUFC forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 each.

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

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

At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The court previously heard the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and shoes worth over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

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

The judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".