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Individuals of an Italian clan of burglars who stole over £1.2 million valued of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie journeyed to the north-east of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

The group of four were imprisoned for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

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

The following night, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth more than £100,000.

After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no money or assets so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the amount due".