Norwegian teen hitman is jailed for 20 years for UK murder plot on behalf of Iran-backed gang

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, a 19-year-old Norwegian footballer, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday after flying to England to carry out a contract killing for the Iran-backed Swedish Foxtrot gang, which deploys children as young as 13 in violent crime. He agreed to shoot an unknown target for €25,000 (£21,500), flew from Stavanger to Manchester on a temporary passport, and was arrested by armed police at a Huddersfield hotel with a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and 12 live rounds. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told him he had shown "not only participation but at points excitement" about the planned killing. He was convicted of conspiracy to murder after a retrial.

Natland was controlled by an English-speaking handler called 'Agent 47' — a reference to the Hitman gaming franchise — and recruited through a teenager known only as 'Generalen'.

From his hotel room he bragged to his girlfriend he had the 'bangs in the bag' and took selfies with the guns and cash spread across his bed.

The Iran-backed Foxtrot gang, which targets Jews according to the JC, is proscribed and known for deploying children as young as 13 to carry out drug smuggling and violent crimes.