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Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who stole over £1.2 million valued of items, including from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her child Charlie travelled to the northeastern of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing another car to search for targets and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional touring thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their phones off as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

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

Judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".