A Norwegian teenager travelled from Stavanger and was detained in Huddersfield on March 19 last year after being linked to a Foxtrot Network assassination plot; he was later sentenced to 20 years.
The case centres on Johannes Natland, who was 18 at the time he travelled from Stavanger to the UK. He was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield on March 19 last year, only hours before police say he was due to carry out an assassination.
The trial at the Old Bailey ran for two weeks and ended with a conviction for conspiracy to murder.
Police recovered firearms and cash when they arrested him at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield. Officers found a semi-automatic pistol a revolver and 12 rounds of ammunition together with £2,000 in cash.
Sentencing was handed down by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb who emphasised the severity of agreeing to take another life in a foreign country.
Arrest timeline and movements in the UK
Natland flew from Stavanger to Manchester on March 17. Border Force officials initially questioned him at the airport and directed him to return to the airport for a flight home four days later but he remained in the country and travelled to Huddersfield by taxi.
Investigators say he was instructed to collect weapons from a hide in a wooded area and then checked into a nearby hotel.
Shortly before his arrest at 5.15am on March 19 messages recovered by police indicated coordination with recruiters who provided maps, pictures and video directions. When officers knocked at his hotel door he came out in his boxer shorts, put his hands up and mimed holding a gun, even pretending to shoot an officer before being restrained.
Trial, conviction and sentence
Following the two-week trial at the Old Bailey, jurors found Natland guilty of conspiracy to murder. At sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb noted that although no one was physically harmed, the defendant had agreed to assassinate a stranger in England. The judge highlighted the defendant’s background and vulnerability, saying his adolescence had been disrupted by drug use and related issues.
Natland admitted possession of the firearms but denied the conspiracy charge. In his testimony he claimed he had intended to sabotage the plan by injuring himself, a claim the prosecution rejected as implausible. The court heard he had told friends and his then-girlfriend remarks suggesting eagerness about the mission, which prosecutors used to challenge his account.
Organised crime links and policing response
Authorities say the plot was orchestrated by the so-called Foxtrot Network described at trial as a Swedish organised crime group with ties to the Iranian regime. The network is alleged to recruit young people as disposable operatives to carry out violent acts in Europe. A senior recruiter identified in court proceedings is Ali Shehab who was referred to by the nickname ‘Agent 47’.
Commander Helen Flanagan head of Counter Terrorism Policing London underlined how foreign actors increasingly use criminal proxies and online recruitment, promising payment for violent tasks. She said the intended target in this case was never identified and that no direct link to Iran was established in the evidence presented at trial.
Operational details highlighted by investigators
Investigators relied on a mix of CCTV, digital communications and on-the-ground policing to locate and detain Natland. Messages on encrypted apps and other digital trails showed he had been given precise instructions about flights, meeting points and where a bag of weapons was concealed. Police also found £2,000 in cash in his hotel room, which matched the accounts of payments discussed during recruitment.
The court heard the payment proposed for the killing was £21,000. Prosecutors argued that Natland neither knew nor cared who his intended victim was, and that he had been targeted because he was young and vulnerable. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the defendant had pursued the role of enforcer despite repeated opportunities to withdraw.
Family, background and continuing investigation
Natland grew up in Stavanger in south-west Norway. His mother, Ellen Kongsnes has said publicly that she did not believe he would have gone through with killing someone. The judge noted his previously promising prospects, which were derailed by drug misuse and associated mental health issues.
The investigation into those who aided the plot has continued. Authorities have made further arrests and inquiries into how Natland obtained the firearms and a vehicle allegedly linked to the operation. Law enforcement agencies involved included local police in West Yorkshire and national counterterror teams working with Norwegian counterparts to disrupt the plot before it could be carried out.
This case underlines the challenges police face when online recruitment intersects with organised crime, and the speed with which investigators had to act to prevent a potentially lethal attack on UK soil. The sentence imposed reflects both the planned violence and the organised nature of the network that attempted to direct the operation.
