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Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2 million valued of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 each.

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

The group of four were jailed for from a decade or less in 2025.

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

Particulars of the Break-ins

The court was told the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out burglaries.

On 31 March they stole over one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

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 ten thousand pounds in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring burglars, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer the prosecution said each of the defendants had profited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he defaulted.

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

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "recover the amount outstanding".