Norwegian Teen Jailed 20 Years for UK Plot

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, received a 20-year sentence at Woolwich Crown Court after jurors at the Old Bailey convicted him in July of conspiracy to murder. He traveled to England in March 2025 after agreeing to shoot an unidentified target for 25,000 euros. Police arrested him at a Huddersfield hotel two days after landing, seized two firearms and live ammunition he had collected from a nearby wooded area, and recorded that he mimed holding a gun and pretended to shoot at an officer. Handlers from Sweden's Foxtrot Network guided him via Signal and left the weapons and cash. He had been recruited online while gaming; a 17-year-old known as Generalen who hired him was jailed 14 years in Norway. Natland must serve at least 13 years and four months before parole. Natland admitted possessing the guns and ammunition but denied intending to carry out the killing. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb rejected that account, telling him he agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, and that at the heart of the case was a stark fact: he agreed to assassinate a stranger in a foreign country knowing nothing of that person's life. Helen Flanagan said he was clearly being tasked by someone in the Foxtrot Network, which authorities link to violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime. The intended victim was never identified. No one was harmed.