A teenage hitman who travelled from Norway to the UK with the intention of carrying out a murder on behalf of an Iran-backed international crime gang has been jailed for 20 years.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, a talented footballer, had agreed to shoot an unknown target in return for €25,000 (£21,500).
He travelled to the UK in March last year from his home in Stavanger, but two days later – before he could carry out the hit – armed police arrested him at a hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Officers found him in possession of a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, 12 rounds of live ammunition and gloves. Natland admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition but said he had intended to shoot himself in the foot to get out of the “pickle” he was in.
However, he was later found guilty of conspiracy to murder and on Friday was sentenced to 20 years in detention.
The court heard that Natland had been recruited by another teenager referred to as Generalen, who was working for the proscribed Swedish Foxtrot gang, which is backed by the Iranian regime and known for recruiting children as young as 13 to become involved in drug smuggling and violent crimes.
Natland had been controlled by an English-speaking boss called Agent 47 – an apparent reference to the Hitman gaming and film franchise. The identity and whereabouts of Agent 47 remain unknown.
Natland had flown into Manchester on a temporary passport, where he had been stopped by Border Force officials, who bailed him to return to the airport to catch the next direct flight home.
However, he instead travelled by taxi to Huddersfield, where he booked into the Briar Court hotel and picked up the guns and ammunition, as well as £2,000 in cash. He was also directed to a stolen Nissan with false number plates, which was to be used in the assassination.
While in the hotel, Natland took selfies with the guns and cash spread out on his bed, and bragged to his girlfriend that he had the “bangs in the bag” before armed police arrived to arrest him at 5.15am the next day.
Paul Hynes KC, defending, pointed to Natland’s age at the time of the offending and said he had been a “young, popular, successful student and sportsman” before he went “off the rails” after he became addicted to drugs. Giving evidence, Natland told jurors: “I wasn’t an international assassin. I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy. I knew I wasn’t.”
However, in a televised sentencing at Woolwich crown court in south-east London, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said messages he sent showed “not only participation but at points excitement” about what he was planning to do.
“You agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, despite numerous opportunities to extricate yourself,” she said.
“Although the fact that no one was shot dead or physically harmed is important, I am sure, had the intervention of the police not prevented the plan from proceeding, you would have done what you had agreed to.”
