A 19-year-old Norwegian national, Johannes Natland, has been sentenced to 20 years detention after travelling to the UK to carry out a murder for an organised crime group. Natland was apprehended in a Huddersfield hotel room in March 2025, found in possession of two functional firearms and 19 rounds of live ammunition.

The jury heard during Natland's retrial that he was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, identified as a Swedish organised crime syndicate with ties to the Iranian regime. Natland pleaded guilty to possessing firearms and ammunition and was subsequently found guilty of conspiracy to murder by a unanimous jury decision. He was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.

The Foxtrot Network has faced sanctions from both the UK and the US due to its documented links to the Iranian government. The intended victim of Natland's plot remains unidentified, according to Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London. The group is noted for its use of teenage assassins, a tactic described by Europol as "violence-as-a-service" (VaaS).

During the sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb stated that the Foxtrot Network "has developed an arm's-length method of recruiting young people to carry out violent crimes." She addressed Natland directly, saying, "You were recruited to travel to England to kill an unidentified target."

Natland arrived in Manchester on March 17, 2025, using an emergency passport, shortly after his 18th birthday. Instructions via the Signal messaging app guided him to Huddersfield, where weapons, a stolen vehicle, and cash were discovered. The plot was disrupted when Norwegian authorities arrested the individual who recruited Natland, uncovering messages detailing the UK operation on his phone.

This led to an urgent effort to locate Natland in the UK before he could identify and harm his target. Commander Flanagan described the situation as "a race against time" and noted the pressure to apprehend him quickly due to his presence in the country with the clear intent to commit murder on UK soil. Police intervened swiftly to prevent the crime.

Officers found Natland at the Briar Court Hotel with the handguns concealed beneath his bed. Upon their arrival, he mimed shooting an officer before being restrained and handcuffed.

Natland, originally from Stavanger, Norway, had a history of drug use starting at age 13, leading to him leaving school. He had previously disclosed to the Old Bailey that he was using drugs almost daily by the previous year, experiencing paranoia and drug-induced psychosis which led to psychiatric treatment. His defence counsel, Paul Hynes KC, argued that his mental state was worsened by drug consumption, impairing his judgment.