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  "path": "/news/yorkshire-news-teenager-arrived-britain-murder-target-iran",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-03T21:21:55.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Police force at centre of Henry Nowak arrest 'pressured' officers into diversity training",
    "Small boat migrant jailed for FIFTH time after causing £10,000 worth of damage during hotel rampage",
    "YouTuber who faked GTA livestream while murdering pregnant girlfriend jailed for 31 years",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA Norwegian teenager travelled to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of a Swedish criminal organisation with alleged ties to the Iranian regime, a court has been told.\n\nJohannes Natland, now 19, was apprehended at a Huddersfield hotel on March 19 last year whilst in possession of a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and 12 live rounds.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nProsecutors allege the young man from Stavanger was recruited by the Foxtrot network, which offered up to 25,000 euros for completing the assassination.\n\n\"He had been recruited by an organisation called the Foxtrot network to an agreement that in return for money he would travel here and undertake a hit,\" prosecutor Alistair Richardson told the jury.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nNatland has admitted possessing the weapons but denies conspiracy to murder.\n\nThe Foxtrot network was established in 2021 and has since been linked to drug trafficking and violent offences, the court heard.\n\nProsecutors described how the organisation advertises criminal opportunities through group chats on messaging platforms including Snapchat, Telegram and Signal.\n\nThese online groups can attract thousands of participants, with members taking on distinct roles as \"instigators\", \"recruiters\" and \"facilitators\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe network typically deploys very young individuals as \"enforcers\" to carry out violent acts, jurors were told.\n\nAccording to the prosecution, these young operatives are rarely given advance knowledge of their intended victims' identities.\n\nMr Richardson told the court Natland \"neither knew nor cared who he was to kill\" and \"this was to him all about the money which he would receive for completing the job\".\n\nThe alleged plot was orchestrated by an individual using the online alias \"Agent 47\", who contacted another Norwegian teenager operating under the name \"Generalen\" as a recruiter, the court heard.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Police force at centre of Henry Nowak arrest 'pressured' officers into diversity training\n  * Small boat migrant jailed for FIFTH time after causing £10,000 worth of damage during hotel rampage\n  * YouTuber who faked GTA livestream while murdering pregnant girlfriend jailed for 31 years\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAgent 47 asked Generalen: \"Do you have an assassin abroad?\"\n\nThe handler described the assignment as being in \"Great Britain. As easy as can be\" and confirmed there was 25,000 euros available for the job.\n\nIn a Snapchat exchange on March 15 last year, Natland asked the recruiter: \"Who is to be shot?\"\n\nThe prosecutor said these initial messages demonstrated Natland understood from the outset that the arrangement involved killing someone with a firearm.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nBefore departing Norway, the defendant informed his girlfriend he was \"going on a crazy mission\", jurors were told.\n\nNatland arrived at Manchester Airport on March 17 last year, aged just 18 and carrying a temporary passport.\n\nBorder Force officials questioned him and initially refused him entry to the country, but he was released on bail and subsequently took a taxi to a Manchester hotel.\n\nThe following day, Agent 47 directed him to a Huddersfield address to collect cash, before he checked into the Briar Court Hotel for a three-night stay.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe teenager was then guided via video and map to a tree where the firearms and ammunition were concealed, the court heard.\n\nHe also purchased three pairs of black and orange workman's gloves and was directed to a stolen vehicle allegedly intended for use in the killing.\n\nWhen armed officers arrived at his hotel room, Natland made a hand gesture pretending to shoot them, jurors were told, where police then recovered £2,000 in cash alongside the weapons.\n\nThe trial is expected to continue for the next three weeks.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Teenager arrived in Britain to murder target on behalf of Iran, court told"
}