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Members of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from ex- NUFC forward Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

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

Details of the Break-ins

The judge previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the UK on March 27, 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 scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth more than £100,000.

After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had profited 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 was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge was informed, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no money or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the amount due".