Norwegian teenager sentenced to 20 years in prison over UK murder plot
Norwegian teenager receives 20-year sentence over alleged UK assassination plan
Poinews.com – A 19-year-old Norwegian man has been given a 20-year prison sentence after a British court found that he travelled to the United Kingdom to carry out an assassination for payment.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland was arrested in northern England in March 2025, shortly after arriving in the country through Manchester Airport. Police intervened before anyone was killed or injured, but the court concluded that the planned shooting was at an advanced stage.
Investigators said Natland had accepted €25,000 to carry out a contract killing. The identity of the intended victim has never been established publicly, leaving a central question about the planned attack unresolved.
Weapons found in hotel room
Natland arrived at Manchester Airport two days before his arrest and stayed at a hotel in northern England. Officers searching his room found a bag beneath his bed containing two firearms: a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver. The bag also held 19 rounds of ammunition.
Examination of his phone and other communications pointed to a coordinated operation. Messages showed that he had been instructed on collecting the weapons after entering the UK. Police also identified social-media contact made while he was still in Norway, in which he was asked to undertake a shooting in Britain.
Authorities said Natland was directed by an individual using the name “Agent 47”, apparently drawing on the name associated with the Hitman video game franchise. The use of an online alias added to the difficulty of identifying those directing the alleged plot.
Natland argued that he did not intend to go through with the shooting. The sentencing judge rejected that explanation, finding that he had repeatedly continued with the plan despite opportunities to withdraw.
“You agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, despite numerous opportunities to extricate yourself,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said at the sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court.
“Although the fact that no one was shot dead or physically harmed is important, I am sure had the intervention of the police not prevented the plan from proceeding, you would have done what you had agreed to.”
Links examined to Foxtrot Network
Counter Terrorism Policing said the teenager had acted under the direction of someone connected to the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based international criminal gang. Authorities have linked the network to weapons trafficking, shootings and contract killings across Northern Europe.
The case highlights how criminal networks can use cross-border travel, encrypted or social-media communication, and intermediaries to arrange violent offences. In this instance, the alleged arrangement involved a Norwegian national, a journey to England, weapons collected after arrival, and an intended victim who remains unidentified.
Foxtrot and its leader, Rawa Majid, have been sanctioned by both the United Kingdom and the United States. The US State Department has said that the Iranian regime has used the network in attacks targeting Israeli and Jewish people and sites in Europe.
However, investigators found no evidence establishing a direct Iranian connection in Natland’s specific case. The apparent association with a wider criminal organisation did not establish who was meant to be targeted or why.
Police intervention prevented attack
Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said officers detained Natland only hours before the alleged assassination was due to take place.
“Natland was arrested just hours before he was due to carry out an assassination here in the UK.”
She said the absence of an identified target remains a feature of the investigation, while stressing that police will seek to disrupt suspected hostile-state activity before planned violence can occur.
“The intended target of this specific assassination has never been identified, and we found no evidence of any direct link to Iran in this case. However, as recent events have shown, CTP will seek to proactively disrupt any attempts by hostile states to carry out criminal acts in the UK,” she added.
The 20-year sentence reflects the seriousness with which the court viewed a planned killing, even though no shot was fired. The case also underlines the importance of early intervention in suspected organised-crime operations, where the intended harm may be prevented before the person or people at risk are publicly known.
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