Norwegian Teen, 19, Jailed 20 Years Over Iran-Linked UK Murder Plot
Johannes Natland was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish criminal group described as backed by the Iranian regime, to carry out a killing in England, according to a British public broadcaster on Friday.
A jury unanimously convicted Natland of conspiracy to murder at a retrial, and he was sentenced Friday at Woolwich Crown Court. He had earlier admitted possessing firearms and ammunition.
Armed and arrested within days of arrival
Natland landed at Manchester Airport on an emergency passport on March 17, 2025, shortly after turning 18. Following instructions in videos sent through the messaging app Signal, he traveled to Huddersfield, where firearms, a stolen car and cash had been hidden for him.
Police arrested him at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in March 2025. Officers found two working guns and 19 rounds of live ammunition concealed under his bed.
The plot unraveled after Norwegian police arrested the teenager who had recruited Natland and found messages about the planned killing on his phone.
Victim remains unknown
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said investigators had not identified the intended victim.
“We haven’t been able to establish exactly who the intended victim was,” she said.
Passing sentence, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Natland: “You were recruited to travel to England to kill an unidentified target.”
She added: “At the heart of this case is a stark fact. You agreed to assassinate another human being, a stranger to you, in a foreign country.”
Teen recruitment tactic under scrutiny
The UK and the US have both sanctioned the Foxtrot Network over its ties to the Iranian government. The group has also been linked to recruiting teenagers for violent crimes, a practice Europol has described as “violence-as-a-service.”
Natland grew up in Stavanger, in southwestern Norway. He reportedly started using drugs at 13 and left school, and later suffered drug-induced psychosis.
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