Teenage Norwegian 'hitman' guilty of UK murder plot

A teenager who travelled from Norway to the UK to carry out a "hit" for a Swedish organised crime group has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

An Old Bailey jury heard how Johannes Natland, 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield with two working guns and 19 rounds of live ammunition in March 2025.

He pleaded guilty to possession of the firearms and ammunition but had denied the conspiracy charge.

Following a retrial, Natland showed no emotion as the jury brought in a unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for just over 17 hours.

During the trial opening, prosecutor Alistair Richardson said the teen was "recruited" by the Foxtrot Network, which was described as a Swedish organised crime group backed by the Iranian regime.

Natland had claimed rather than carry out the attack, he had planned to shoot himself in the foot, telling jurors he had found himself in "a major pickle".

The court heard how the Foxtrot Network had been sanctioned by both the UK and the US for its close links to the Iranian government.

The group is infamous for pioneering the relatively new phenomenon of hiring teenage killers that Europol has called "violence-as-a-service" (VaaS).

Natland flew into Manchester Airport on an emergency passport on 17 March and was guided by videos on the messaging app Signal to Huddersfield, where the guns, a stolen car and a stash of cash were hidden.

He was only prevented from carrying out the hit because Norwegian police arrested the teenager who had recruited him, and found messages about the UK plot in the Signal app on his phone.

There was then a race against time to find Natland before he shot his unknown target in England.

The trial heard Natland was at the Briar Court Hotel with two handguns stashed under his bed when he was arrested by police.

When he saw officers at the door, he mimed shooting one of them before he was pushed against the wall and handcuffed.

The teenager who recruited him is 17, so cannot be named for legal reasons, but was known by his online username "Generalen", or General.

Johannes Natland at Manchester Airport after being allowed to enter despite Border Force officers' suspicions

Generalen was convicted of his involvement in the conspiracy in Norway in May this year, as well as of several other attempted murders and arsons he had arranged on behalf of the Foxtrot Network.

He was also convicted for his part in two murders in Sweden.

Ahmed Zamzam was killed at Lund Central Station on 28 January last year, and Murad Abdelkader was killed in the Stockholm suburb of Alby less than a mont