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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who took over £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return just £1 each.

Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to raid multiple homes in April 2024.

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

At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The court was told the group arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and execute burglaries.

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

The following night, the gang entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.

After scouting out Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional touring thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, switched 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 vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

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

But Charlie was the only one found to have any money that could be "recovered", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with two weeks to be served in jail if he defaulted.

The other three had no money or property so were directed to pay a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.

The judge Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the sum due".