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Members of an Italy-based clan of burglars who took over £1.2 million worth of items, among them from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.

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

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

At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie must pay £1,135.

Details of the Break-ins

The judge was told the group came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service rest stops while using another car to scout out properties and carry out thefts.

On 31 March they stole more than £1m of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, used gloves and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".