Norwegian Teen Sentenced for UK Murder Plot

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, a 19-year-old Norwegian footballer, was sentenced to 20 years‘ detention for conspiracy to murder after plotting a contract killing in the United Kingdom. Recruited by an Iran-backed criminal network, the teenager was arrested in a Huddersfield hotel room in March 2025 before the assassination could occur.

Woolwich Crown Court Jails Teenager

The court heard that the teenager was recruited to travel to England to kill an unidentified target as part of an arm’s-length method of recruiting young people to carry out violent crimes employed by the Foxtrot crime network. During the sentencing, Justice Cheema-Grubb told the defendant that he had agreed to “assassinate another human being” for money and that, had police not intervened, she was satisfied he would have completed the killing.

Recruitment by the Foxtrot Network and Agent 47

Investigators established that Natland was hired by the Foxtrot crime network, an organization led by Rawa Majid—often called the “Kurdish Fox—that is currently under sanctions by the U.S. and the U.K. for its role in orchestrating attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets on behalf of the Iranian regime. Europol has categorized this behavior asviolence-as-a-service.”

Norwegian teen guilty of UK murder-for-hire plot | 7NEWS

After an initial interaction with border officials, who released him to return to the airport, he traveled by taxi to Huddersfield. There, he collected £2,000 in cash, the weapons intended for the attack, and was directed to a stolen Nissan vehicle with false plates. Defense counsel Paul Hynes KC highlighted Natland’s young age at the time of the offense. He described his client as having been a young, popular, successful student and sportsman before his life went “off the railsdue to drug abuse, rehab, and debt. Hynes argued that the teenager no longer represented a future danger and that the experience had beenchastening, humbling and frightening.”

Police Intervene in Huddersfield

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, noted that the suspect was arrested just hours before he was due to carry out an assassination here in the UK. Upon his arrest, Natland was captured on body-worn camera footage pretending to shoot one of the officers with his empty hands. Police subsequently recovered a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, 12 rounds of live ammunition, gloves, and £2,000 in cash from his room.

Norwegian Teen Sentenced for UK Murder Plot — Photo: Yahoo

They are often lured via social media apps with promises of significant financial reward, in this case, a payment of 25,000 euros (£21,500).

Police Investigate Broader Network

The legal fallout from the plot extends beyond Natland’s conviction. In Norway, a 17-year-old recruiter known as “Generalen” was convicted in May 2025 of attempting to contribute to murder. Swedish police have identified a separate potential senior figure in the network as Ali Shehab Ahmed, who was arrested in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in December.

Teenage Norwegian 'hitman' guilty of UK murder plot. #BBCNews

Two men, aged 30 and 27, were arrested in Bradford on May 20, 2025, on suspicion of handling stolen goods related to a vehicle used in the plot; they were released on bail.
A 27-year-old man was arrested in September 2025 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and remains under investigation.
Three additional people have been charged by Norwegian police, with prosecutors yet to decide on indictments.

The identity and whereabouts of Natland’s primary contact, the individual known as Agent 47, remain unknown to authorities. Counter Terrorism Policing continues to investigate individuals suspected of assisting Natland in obtaining the firearms and the stolen vehicle.