A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty of agreeing to carry out a murder after being recruited by Iran-backed Swedish criminals.
Johannes Natland, 19, travelled to the UK last year with the plan to “undertake a hit” in exchange for money after being hired online by the Foxtrot crime network.
The network, along with its founder, Kurdish-born gangster Rawa Majid, has been placed under sanctions by the US and the UK for carrying out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets on behalf of Iran, using teenagers recruited via social media apps.
The conviction of Natland for conspiracy to murder after a two-week retrial at the Old Bailey is the first recorded instance of the network organising an attack in Britain, though his target remains unknown.
Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “This was a calculated plan to kill for money.
“Johannes Natland was just 18 when he travelled to the UK, having agreed to carry out a murder on behalf of others for financial gain. This case shows how organised crime networks operate across borders and exploit young people to carry out serious violence.”
Natland, a talented footballer from Stavanger in south-west Norway, was prevented from carrying out an attack after he was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on March 19, two days after his arrival.
The process of organising the attack had begun when an individual referred to as Agent 47 had used social media to contact a figure with the username Generalen to ask for someone to carry out an assassination in the UK.
In the message, Agent 47 told Generalen that there was €25,000 (£21,590) “in the pot”.
Swedish police believe Agent 47 is Ali Shehab Ahmed, a senior figure in the Foxtrot network, who was arrested in Sulaymaniyah in Iraq in December.
The 22-year-old is accused of recruiting children to kill rivals. He is suspected of instigating five murders and 23 attempted murders, including a shooting in the town of Farsta, near Stockholm, in 2023 and is awaiting extradition.
Generalen, who is aged 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted by a court in Norway in May for his involvement in the conspiracy.
He was also convicted for his involvement in several other attempted murders and arson attacks he had arranged on behalf of the Foxtrot network, as well as for his part in two murders in Sweden.
Natland was contacted on March 15 by a user, called UnknownHustler, informing him of the job. In further messages, Generalen told Agent 47 in a group chat with Natland: “This is the assassin for EU, brother.”
The would-be assassin flew to Manchester Airport and was interviewed by Border Force officers over concerns surrounding his age and lack of money. He told them that he had arrived in the city to visit his gamer friends and see landmarks.
The defendant left the airport and took a taxi to a hotel in Manchester. That night, Agent 47 sent him a message reading: “Sleep and when you wake up we start.”
Natland told his girlfriend he was “going on a crazy mission” before travelling to the UK.
He said he was going to kill someone, and “life would be wonderful”. After collecting the weapons, he messaged her to say “in the bag is bang” and sent her a selfie holding a firearm, which he captioned “soon it will happen”.
CCTV footage showed him collecting the weapons and later buying heavy-duty gloves matching those seen in his own videos handling the guns.
The final message sent to him by his handlers before his arrest read: “We have much to do tomorrow.”
But on the morning of March 19, specialist firearms officers went to arrest Natland and when he came to the doorway, he held his hands up “imitating holding a firearm and pretended to shoot one of the officers”.
In a search of his hotel room, police recovered £2,000 in notes from the bed and desk, three pairs of nitrile gloves, a semi-automatic pistol, 17 bullets, of which 12 were viable, and a rusted revolver.
Natland had denied the conspiracy to murder charges but admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition.
During his trial Natland claimed that he was not intending to carry out the assassination but was instead intending to “shoot himself in the foot”, as a way to avoid repercussions if he refused the mission.
An investigation by counter-terrorism police is continuing.
In September 2025, a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. He has subsequently been released under investigation.
Two men, aged 30 and 27, were arrested in Bradford on May 20 on suspicion of handling a stolen car They were taken into custody before being released on bail.
