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Members of an Italy-based family of burglars who stole over £1.2 million valued of items, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.

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

The group of four were imprisoned for between a decade or less in May 2025.

At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the gang came by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham rest stops while using another car to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they took more than £1m of goods such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than £100,000.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

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

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the amount of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not submitted.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".