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Members of an Italian family of thieves who took more than £1.2m valued of goods, including from former NUFC forward Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.

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

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

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang came by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out thefts.

On March 31 they stole over £1m of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.

The next evening, the crew broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and shoes worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The group, who were described by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, turned their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

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 guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he failed to pay.

The other three had no money or assets so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not submitted.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example operating Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the amount due".