Norwegian teenager guilty of conspiracy to murder for Iranian-backed crime group
A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder as part of an Iranian-backed crime group, highlighting international criminal networks.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to murder after travelling to England to carry out a killing on behalf of an international crime gang with links to Iran. Johannes Nachtland, 19, agreed to carry out the hit for nearly £22,000. He will be sentenced later.
Nachtland was arrested by firearms officers in a hotel in Huddersfield last March. He had been filmed posing with cash and handguns, and sent the videos to friends. He had flown into Manchester Airport two days after being recruited by another Norwegian teenager. The plot was orchestrated by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime and drugs group that has links to the Iranian regime. The group is known for using teenage gunmen, who are cheap and expendable.
Handlers guided Nachtland via detailed instructions, sending him videos showing where to find money for his hotel and the path to a woodland hide where the weapons were stashed. He retrieved a bag containing a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition from under a tree. He was also directed to a stolen car and £2,000 hidden in a foot tunnel.
Nachtland was caught only because the teenager who recruited him was arrested in Oslo the previous day, and details of the Huddersfield plot were found on his phone. The intended target remains unknown. Swedish police suspect the main handler, known as Agent 47, is Ali Shahab Ahmed, believed to be close to the leader of the Foxtrot network. Two murders in Sweden in the months before Nachtland's arrest were also carried out by teenagers recruited by the same young Norwegian who hired Nachtland. In one case, the wrong man was killed.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One |
|---|---|
| A 19-year-old Norwegian was found guilty of conspiracy to murder at the Old Bailey. | |
| He agreed to carry out the killing for nearly £22,000. | |
| The Foxtrot network has links to the Iranian regime and often uses teenage gunmen. | |
| The recruiter who hired Nachtland also recruited two teenagers in Sweden who carried out murders, one killing the wrong man. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The coverage provides a detailed, step-by-step account of the plot, including the recruitment process, the use of online handlers, and the specific weapons and money involved. The second segment adds an interview with the correspondent, reinforcing the gang's disregard for teenage gunmen and the fact that the target was never identified. The tone is factual and investigative, with a focus on the Iranian link and the international criminal network.
- “Nachtland had been recruited for the assassination by another Norwegian teenager, and just two days later, he flew into Manchester Airport.”
- “The group often uses teenage gunmen, caring little if they're arrested.”
- “He'd been recruited by another Norwegian teenager to carry out the hit on behalf of a very serious criminal gang based in Sweden called the Foxtrot Network, which has links to the Iranian regime.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.