Norwegian teenage hitman who plotted murder in UK for Iran-backed criminal gang jailed
Nineteen-year-old Johannes Kongsnes Natland, who traveled from Norway to the UK to plot a murder for 25,000 euros, was captured in a police operation and sentenced to 20 years in prison by the court.
Nineteen-year-old Norwegian Johannes Kongsnes Natland, hired by an Iran-backed international criminal gang to carry out a murder in the UK, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being captured in an armed police raid.
Nineteen-year-old Johannes Kongsnes Natland, who arrived in the UK from Stavanger, Norway, in March of last year, had agreed to kill an unidentified target in exchange for 25,000 euros. Stopped by border officials at Manchester Airport with a temporary passport and expected to return to his country, Natland instead took a taxi to Huddersfield and stayed at a hotel.
Caught in his hotel room with a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, 12 live rounds of ammunition, and gloves, the young hitman was detained by armed police teams before he could carry out the planned act. Evaluating the charges in court, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb at Woolwich Crown Court stated that the defendant's messages clearly showed his participation and excitement for the act, and that without the timely intervention of the police, the murder would certainly have been committed.