Norwegian teenager jailed for 20 years over UK hitman plot

A Norwegian teenager has been sentenced to 20 years in detention for agreeing to act as a hitman in England for an organised crime group with links to Iran. Johannes Natland, 19, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court after being arrested in a Huddersfield hotel last March, hours before he was due to carry out the killing. He was 18 at the time.

The court heard he was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group sanctioned by the UK and the US. It arranged the commission online through social media and messaging platforms. Natland flew from Norway to Manchester, then travelled to Huddersfield, where he collected two hidden guns, a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver, and live ammunition. Reports differ on whether 12 or 19 rounds were recovered. He paid for his hotel with cash and bought gloves, but also filmed himself handling the weapons and posted material on Snapchat.

He had been promised about £21,000, or 25,000 euros, for the murder. He was also given £2,000 in cash, according to one account. He never received the promised fee. Police have not identified the intended target or who ordered the killing. One report said the target was an unnamed Turkish man, but other coverage said the victim was unknown. Counter-terrorism police arrested him before he could act.

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Natland he was just 18 when he placed himself in readiness to murder for money. She said the commission was for the Foxtrot Network and arranged online. She said the idea thrilled his immature personality, which had become untethered from his family and social network because of teenage drug addiction. She said the network regarded him as expendable. Natland's mother listened in the public gallery as he was told he would serve at least two thirds of the sentence. The sentence included concurrent terms for firearms offences: five years for the semi-automatic pistol, five years for the revolver and three years for ammunition. His overall detention is 20 years.

He had pleaded guilty to weapons possession but denied conspiracy to murder. The court still sentenced him for conspiracy. In evidence, he said he wanted to look cool to his peers but that it was bravado. During his arrest he formed his hands into an imaginary gun and pretended to shoot officers, and asked if he could take a picture.

Police and prosecutors described the Foxtrot Network as a dangerous enterprise that recruits young people with little criminal history. A senior counter-terrorism officer said the group is sanctioned in the UK and has mainly focused on criminality, though it has influence in Europe and has carried out similar attacks and taskings. Swedish police suspect Natland's main handler was Ali Shahab Ahmad, who is detained in Iraq and is close to Rawa Majid, the Foxtrot leader who lives in Iran. The group is thought to have been responsible for about 35 murders in Europe, including two committed by teenagers recruited by the same Norwegian who hired Natland.

The case has highlighted what police call violence as a service. Young recruits are used as disposable operators while the taskers distance themselves. Natland is not the first teenager recruited by Foxtrot. Investigators say the network has hired young people for violent crimes, then left them to face the consequences. The intended target in this case remains unidentified, and inquiries continue.