British judge fines migrant family £1 each for stealing £1.2 million

In another example of the ridiculousness of the U.K.'s justice system, an Italian crime family was ordered to pay back £1 of the £1.2 million in goods they burgled.

Amazing.

From the BBC:

Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to raid three houses in April 2024.

The Jovanovic family are Serbians who were living in Italy before migrating to the UIK along with the rest of the world.

They stole designer clothing, handbags, jewelry, shoes and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) medal adding up to a grand total of £1,266,285.93.

The court ordered restitution to the victims, but all those stolen goods had magically disappeared and the family was found to have nothing to their name, so the judge ordered them to each pay a SINGLE BRITISH POUND to make up for their crimes.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be ‘realised', namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or assets so were ordered to pay a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in prison the result if the money was not paid.

All four were also sentenced to multiple years in prison for their crimes, but there's a catch.

Valentino Nikolov was jailed for 10 years on Tuesday, Giacomo Nikolov for eight years, Jela Jovanovic for seven years and two months, and Charlie Jovanovic for six years and nine months.

Here's the catch:

Judge Robert Spragg said the sentences mean the defendants meet the Home Office criteria for automatic deportation, and since "all" they did was burgle the wealthy, recent prison reform means that could mean immediate deportation.

All four could therefore avoid serving their sentences.

But don't worry.

The judge said if they family were ever found to have any assets in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a property" purchased with something like the sale of unrecovered British loot, Britain would go after them in Italy for the unrecovered money.