A teenage hitman from Norway is facing jail for plotting a kill for an Iran-backed international crime gang. His fate will be announced on Friday.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, of Stavanger, agreed to shoot an unknown target for 25,000 euros (£21,500) in March last year. Two days after he landed in the UK, armed police swooped to arrest him at a hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Arrest and firearms seizure
Police seized two guns and 12 live bullets, and the teen admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition but claimed he would have shot himself in the foot to get out of the "pickle" he was in.
However, jurors heard he had lied repeatedly following his arrest and even tried to persuade his girlfriend not to give evidence in phone calls from prison. An Old Bailey jury found him guilty of conspiracy to murder following a retrial.
Recruitment and travel to the UK
Natland was 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 is known for deploying children as young as 13 in drug smuggling and violent crimes.
Natland was controlled by an English-speaking boss called "Agent 47" in an apparent reference to the Hitman gaming and film franchise. Under close direction, Natland took a flight from his home in Stavanger in Norway to Manchester Airport on a temporary passport on March 17 last year.
Hotel arrest and bravado
In the UK, Natland collected cash, two guns and bullets. He was stopped by Border Force officials in Manchester who bailed him to return to the airport to catch the next direct flight home. He instead went to Huddersfield where he picked up £2,000 in cash, two guns and bullets and was directed to a stolen Nissan with false plates to be used in the killing.
Natland bragged to his girlfriend from his hotel room at the Briar Court Hotel that he had got the "bangs in the bag" and took selfies with the guns and cash spread on his bed. Police knocked on his hotel room door early the next day to arrest him. A smiling Natland emerged wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and pretended to shoot one of the officers with his empty hands.
Giving evidence, Natland said he wanted to look "cool" to his peers but it was just "bravado" and inside he was "terrified". "I wasn't an international assassin," he told jurors. "I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy. I knew I wasn't."
Sentencing and related cases
Natland will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday. His recruiter was convicted in Norway of attempting to "contribute to murder" in May last year. Three more people have been charged by Norwegian police with a decision yet to be taken by prosecutors whether to "indict" them.
The true identity and whereabouts of Natland's English-speaking controller, Agent 47, remains unknown.
