A Norwegian teenager who flew to Britain to carry out a contract killing for an Iran-backed international crime gang will be sentenced today.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, agreed to shoot an unknown target for 25,000 euros — around £21,500 — in March last year. Two days after he arrived in the UK on a flight from his home in Stavanger, armed police arrested him at a hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and seized two guns and 12 live bullets.
An Old Bailey jury found him guilty of conspiracy to murder following a retrial. Today he will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.
Recruited by “Generalen”
The court heard how Natland was recruited by another teenager referred to as “Generalen”, who was working for the proscribed Swedish Foxtrot gang. The gang is backed by the Iranian regime and is known for deploying children as young as 13 in drug smuggling and violent crimes.
Natland was controlled by an English-speaking boss called “Agent 47” — an apparent reference to the Hitman gaming and film franchise. Under Agent 47’s close direction, Natland took a flight from Stavanger to Manchester Airport on a temporary passport on 17 March last year.
He was stopped by Border Force officials in Manchester, who bailed him to return to the airport to catch the next direct flight home. Instead of leaving, he travelled to Huddersfield, where police found a plastic bag containing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition hidden under his hotel bed.
“Cool to kill someone”
Natland admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition but claimed he would have shot himself in the foot to get out of the “pickle” he was in. Jurors heard he had lied repeatedly following his arrest and even tried to persuade his girlfriend not to give evidence in phone calls from prison.
Messages shown to the jury revealed a chilling attitude. Asked by his girlfriend if he had thought it through, he told her it would be “a bit cool to kill someone” and that if he did not get caught they would have to celebrate.
Giving evidence, Natland said he wanted to look “cool” to his peers but it was just “bravado” and inside he was “terrified”. He said he was not an international assassin and knew he was not one.
Despite having supportive parents, his life went downhill after getting hooked on drugs, and he was placed in rehab and a care home, he told the jury. He initially agreed to the plan thinking it was a “joke” or a “scam”, and said he planned to shoot himself in the foot to escape.
“I was going to look like an idiot but desperate times call for desperate measures,” he said. “Faced with the alternative of being shot in the head, I thought being shot in the foot is better, yeah.”
Under cross-examination, he agreed he had lied repeatedly in his written account and had never once mentioned being scared before giving evidence.
A dangerous young man
Prosecutor Alistair Richardson told jurors: “The reality is the defendant is a troubled but dangerous young man. A young man who agreed to kill in a foreign country for money.”
The true identity and whereabouts of Natland’s controller, Agent 47, remains unknown.
Frank Ferguson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a calculated plan to kill for money. This case shows how organised crime networks operate across borders and exploit young people to carry out serious violence.
“Thanks to swift and coordinated police work, this plot was stopped before anyone was harmed. This conviction sends a clear message: if you come to this country to commit serious violence on behalf of organised criminals, you will be caught and we will make sure you are brought to justice.”
The Foxtrot gang
The Foxtrot group is a Swedish criminal network led by Rawa Majid, known in Sweden as the “Kurdish Fox” and thought to be residing in Iran. The gang has been proscribed and is believed to have ties to the Iranian regime.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the investigation highlighted the importance of strong links with international law enforcement partners in countering criminal organisations operating across European borders.
Natland’s mother has said she hopes her son will be transferred back to Norway to serve his sentence, where she believes he can be rehabilitated, go to school and re-enter society.
This is a developing story. We will update this article when the sentence is announced.
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