A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international criminal gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot an unknown target for €25,000 (£21,500) last year. He was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield, northern England, with two guns and ammunition two days after arriving in the UK. The objective is unknown. Natland, who was working part-time at a pizzeria at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as Foxtrot Network while playing an online game. The group has links to the Iranian government, according to counter-terrorism officers from London’s Metropolitan Police. Natland admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition, but stated that he did not want to follow through with the plan. “He agreed to be the executioner and pursued him, despite numerous opportunities to free himself,” Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said at his sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London. “While the fact that no one was shot to death or physically injured is important, I am sure that if police intervention had not prevented the plan from being carried out, you would have done what you agreed to.” Natland was hired by a 17-year-old young man known as “Generalen.” Last year, a Norwegian court convicted the teenager of attempting to “contribute to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. A 16-year-old boy is awaiting trial in Norway for his role in the conspiracy. Last year, the UK government announced sanctions against the Foxtrot Network and its leader “due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.” The sanctions include an asset freeze that prohibits UK companies from handling funds or other economic assets controlled by the organisation.
