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Members of an Italian clan of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back just £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.

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

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

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the gang came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.

On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

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

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, wore gloves and masks, turned their phones off as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the result if the money was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "for example operating in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the amount due".