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Members of an Italian clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, among them from ex- NUFC forward Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.

The foursome were imprisoned for from a decade or less in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The judge 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 search for targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they took over one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were away.

The following night, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.

After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.

The gang, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, switched their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and strapped a number plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.

Court Hearings and Sentencing

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

At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.

But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court was informed, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the money was not paid.

The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".