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Members of an Italian family of thieves who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, among them from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 each.

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in spring 2024.

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

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.

Details of the Burglaries

The judge previously heard the gang came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using another car to scout out targets and execute thefts.

On 31 March they stole over £1m of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring burglars, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.

Legal Hearings and Rulings

Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.

At the criminal gains session, prosecutor Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, 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 over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he defaulted.

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

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", prosecutors could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".