A Norwegian teenager who travelled to the UK as part of a plot to carry out an assassination has been jailed for 20 years following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, from Norway, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, October 16, after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder following a trial earlier this year.
He must serve a minimum of 13 years in custody.
Natland was also sentenced to five years for firearms and ammunition offences, to run concurrently, after previously pleading guilty to those charges.
Arrested hours before planned attack
The Old Bailey heard Natland arrived at Manchester Airport on March 17, 2025.
He was arrested at a hotel in the early hours of March 19, just hours before he was allegedly due to carry out the planned assassination.
Police searching the room found a bag containing two firearms — a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver — along with 19 rounds of ammunition, concealed underneath his bed.
Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing London examined CCTV from Manchester Airport and the hotel and established that Natland had travelled by taxi to a wooded area near Huddersfield, where he collected the firearms.
Messages recovered from his phone contained detailed instructions, including maps, photographs and videos showing where the weapons had been hidden.
Recruited online
Investigators found evidence that Natland had been approached while he was still in Norway through social media and asked to carry out a shooting in Britain.
He was offered a payment of €25,000.
A person using the username “Agent 47” allegedly provided instructions about which flight Natland should take, where to go after arriving in the UK and where to collect money in Huddersfield.
He was then directed to a hotel.
Natland told the court he was not planning to carry out an assassination and claimed he intended to shoot himself in the foot to avoid repercussions if he refused the mission.
The jury rejected his account and found him guilty of conspiracy to murder.
Police investigation continues
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said Natland had been arrested “just hours before he was due to carry out an assassination”.
She said the investigation involved officers in London, West Yorkshire, the North East and Norwegian law enforcement agencies.
Commander Flanagan said Natland appeared to have been tasked by people linked to the Foxtrot Network, which she described as an organised criminal group sanctioned by the UK and US over alleged activity targeting Jewish and Israeli interests in Europe on behalf of Iran.
However, she stressed that the intended target of the assassination was never identified and investigators found no evidence of a direct link to Iran in this particular case.
She said foreign states could increasingly use criminal proxies and warned that individuals recruited online could ultimately be left facing arrest and lengthy prison sentences.
The CTP London investigation remains ongoing into people suspected of helping Natland obtain the firearms and a stolen vehicle.
A 27-year-old man was arrested in September 2025 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and has since been released under investigation.
Two men, aged 30 and 27, were arrested in Bradford on May 20 on suspicion of handling a stolen car. Both were later released on bail.
