A Norwegian teenager recruited by a Swedish criminal network to carry out a contract killing in Britain has been sentenced to 20 years’ detention after police uncovered the murder plot.
Johannes Natland, 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March 2025, after obtaining two firearms and 19 rounds of live ammunition. He was convicted of conspiracy to murder following a retrial in July and sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday 16 October.
Prosecutors said Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group sanctioned by the UK and U.S. over its links to Iran.
However, British counter-terrorism police said they had found no evidence of a direct link to Iran in Natland’s case.
Natland was promised 270,000 Norwegian kroner (around $28,000) to carry out the murder. He flew from Stavanger to Manchester on 17 March 2025, shortly after his 18th birthday, using an emergency passport after his regular one expired.
He was directed to a hotel in Huddersfield, where firearms, ammunition, cash and a stolen car with false number plates had been arranged. Investigators said he collected two guns and 19 rounds of ammunition before returning to his room.
Police uncovered the plot after officers in Norway arrested a teenager suspected of recruiting Natland and found incriminating messages on his phone. The intended victim in Britain has never been identified.
At his trial, Natland admitted possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition but denied conspiracy to murder. He claimed he never intended to kill anyone and had exaggerated his plans to impress others.
Sentencing Natland, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the Foxtrot Network had developed a method of recruiting young people to commit violent crimes while distancing itself from the attacks.
“You agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, despite numerous opportunities to extricate yourself,” the judge told him.
Natland’s barrister, Paul Hynes KC, said his client’s drug use had contributed to mental illness and impaired his judgement. Natland had previously described taking drugs almost daily and experiencing drug-induced psychosis.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, confirmed that the intended target remained unidentified.
She said the Foxtrot Network had been sanctioned by the UK and U.S. for orchestrating violence against Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe on behalf of the Iranian government.
Flanagan vowed that police would continue disrupting attempts by hostile states to carry out criminal acts in Britain.
Natland must serve at least two-thirds of his 20-year sentence in detention.
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