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Norwegian teenager convicted for his role in murder-for-hire ordered by Iran-linked crime gang
A jury found Johannes Kongsnes Natland guilty after prosecutors said he took £21,500 to kill an unknown target for the Foxtrot Network.
- On Wednesday, an Old Bailey jury convicted 19-year-old footballer Johannes Kongsnes Natland of conspiracy to murder following a retrial, finding he traveled to England to carry out a 'hit' for an Iran-linked criminal network.
- Recruited by the Swedish Foxtrot gang backed by the Iranian regime and linked to at least 30 murders, Natland was enlisted by a 17-year-old known as Generalen to kill for £21,500, even after learning Generalen had been arrested for conspiracy to murder.
- Under direction of an English-speaking handler called Agent 47, Natland flew from Stavanger, Norway to Manchester on March 17 last year, then traveled to Huddersfield where he acquired two guns, 12 live bullets, and £2,000 in cash before armed police arrested him at the Briar Court Hotel.
- Natland told jurors he initially thought the plan was a 'joke' or 'scam' and only continued because he was in a 'pickle' with the gang, though prosecutors presented evidence he had lied repeatedly and never mentioned being scared before trial, leading Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb to remand him into custody pending autumn sentencing.
- Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service said the conviction 'sends a clear message: if you come to this country to commit serious violence on behalf of organised criminals, you will be caught,' after the Old Bailey jury deliberated 17 hours and six minutes before reaching the guilty verdict.
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The Norwegian teenager traveled to England last year to carry out a murder on behalf of the Swedish Foxtrot network. “If I don’t get caught, we’ll celebrate,” he wrote to his girlfriend. On Wednesday, he was sentenced in a British court.
·Stockholm, Sweden
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Teen Accused in UK Murder Plot After Receiving €25,000 Offer to Kill Stranger
A Norwegian teenager has been convicted over a murder plot in the United Kingdom after prosecutors said he agreed to travel to Britain and kill a stranger in exchange for a payment of €25,000 (about £21,500) from a Swedish criminal network. The case, heard at the Old Bailey, centred on an alleged cross-border murder-for-hire scheme linked to organised crime groups operating across Scandinavia and the UK. British prosecutors said Johannes Natland…
·United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources88
Leaning Left24Leaning Right18Center23Last UpdatedBias Distribution37% Left
Bias Distribution
- 37% of the sources lean Left
37% Left
L 37%
C 35%
R 28%
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