Norwegian teenage footballer is to be sentenced for plotting a £21,500 contract killing for an Iran-backed gang on British soil

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, from Stavanger, flew to the UK on a temporary passport and was arrested at a Huddersfield hotel with two guns and 12 live bullets just two days after landing. An Old Bailey jury convicted him of conspiracy to murder following a retrial, and he is due to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. The Iranian regime-backed Foxtrot gang offered him 25,000 euros (£21,500) to shoot an unknown target, and his controller went by the alias 'Agent 47'.

Border Force stopped Natland at Manchester Airport but bailed him to leave — he defied the order and went straight to Huddersfield instead.

The Foxtrot gang is known for deploying children as young as 13 in drug smuggling and violent crimes across Europe.

Natland bragged to his girlfriend from his hotel room before his arrest, then tried to pressure her not to give evidence against him in calls from prison.