Norwegian teen sentenced to 20 years for U.K. murder plot tied to Iran-linked gang

A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international crime gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot an unknown target for 25,000 euros (21,500 pounds) last year. He was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield in northern England with two guns and ammunition two days after arriving in the U.K.

The target is not known.

Natland, who was working part time at a pizza restaurant at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as the Foxtrot Network while he was playing a game online. The group has links to the Iranian government, according to counterterrorism officers from London’s Metropolitan Police.

Natland admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition but claimed he did not want to go through with the plan.

“You agreed to be the enforcer and pursued it, despite numerous opportunities to extricate yourself,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said at his sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London.

“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.”

Natland was hired by a 17-year-old known as “Generalen.” A court in Norway last year convicted the teenager of attempting to “contribute to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in custody. A 16-year-old is awaiting trial in Norway for his role in the conspiracy.

The U.K. government last year announced sanctions against Foxtrot Network and its leader “due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.”

The sanctions include an asset freeze that bars U.K. businesses from handling funds or other economic assets controlled by the organization.