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Johannes Natland receives 20 years for UK murder plot

Norwegian Johannes Kongsnes Natland was sentenced to 20 years over a plan to carry out an assassination in Britain. The 19-year-old was arrested in Huddersfield after arriving from Norway in March 2025. Police described a connection to the Foxtrot criminal network, while explicitly saying they found no evidence of a direct Iranian link in this case.

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An open dark travel bag containing firearm parts and ammunition rests on a hotel bed beside a chair and daylight window.

Sentence follows conspiracy-to-murder conviction

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, a Norwegian man aged 19, received a twenty-year sentence on Friday after travelling to Britain to carry out an assassination. He had been convicted of conspiracy to murder. His arrest at a hotel in Huddersfield, a town in northern England, followed his arrival from Norway in March 2025. Police found firearms and ammunition in his room. The intended victim of the planned killing remains unidentified.[1], [2]

Counter Terrorism Policing London, the British capital’s counterterrorism police unit, said Natland must serve at least thirteen years in custody. A five-year term for firearms and ammunition offences, which he had admitted, runs concurrently with the longer sentence.[1]

Messages led officers to weapons and instructions

Police said phone messages contained maps, photographs and instructions showing where weapons had been hidden. Camera footage traced Natland’s taxi journey to a wooded area to collect them. Digital messages also gave instructions about flights and hotel accommodation. A payment of twenty-five thousand euros had been proposed. Cooperation between British and Norwegian authorities enabled officers to arrest Natland before the planned killing. He said he had not intended to carry it out, but the jury rejected his defence.[1]

Police distinguish Foxtrot links from direct Iranian involvement

Police said someone in Foxtrot, a Sweden-based organised crime network, was directing Natland. The network is under British and American sanctions over violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian government. Commander Helen Flanagan explicitly said investigators found no evidence of a direct link to Iran in this particular case. Police said their investigation into suspected help obtaining weapons and a stolen vehicle remained ongoing.[1]

References

  1. News sourceCounter Terrorism PolicingNorwegian man sentenced to 20 years over UK assassination plot↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceBBCJohannes Natland receives 20 years for UK murder plot↩
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