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Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who took over £1.2m valued of items, including from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of England to raid three houses in spring 2024.

The group of four were jailed for from six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The court previously heard the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole more than £1m of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore gloves and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

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

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer the prosecution said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate further action to "recover the sum due".