Teen Norwegian hired by Iran-backed group to carry out UK hit planned to shoot himself in the foot to get out of 'pickle', court hears

Published: 17:46, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 17:57, 11 June 2026 A Norwegian teenager hired by an Iran-backed gang to kill in the UK planned to shoot himself in the foot to get out of the 'pickle' he was in, a court heard. Johannes Natland, 19, agreed to assassinate a target in Britain in return for £21,000, which he would use 'to buy a lot of drugs', the Old Bailey was told. Natland, then 18, flew from Stavanger, south-west Norway, to Manchester on March 17 last year on 'a crazy mission', but was thwarted when he was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, two days later. Police found a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and 12 rounds of live ammunition in his possession, as well as £2,000 in cash, the court heard. He 'neither knew, nor cared' who the target was, it is alleged.  But giving evidence, Natland said he was 'terrified' and planned to sabotage the plot at the last minute by shooting himself in the foot. Johannes Natland, 19, travelled from the oil-rich town of Stavanger, south west Norway, to assassinate a target in the UK 'in return for money', the Old Bailey was told He said he had not backed out earlier because he feared the Swedish Foxtrot Network, the Iran-backed gang that had recruited him, would kill him. 'The biggest crime group in Scandinavia would be on my arse,' he added. He told the court: 'I was never going to kill anyone. I was not a gangbanger, a roadman, a hoodlum or a street guy. I never even properly beat someone's ass. I had never done these things, I was never going to make the jump, definitely not.' The Foxtrot Network is based in Sweden but has been used by the Iranian regime to recruit children as young as 13 for murder, the court has heard. It often preys on vulnerable youngsters in state institutions, using social media to hire volunteers who cannot be connected to the crime. Natland was a talented student and footballer before getting hooked on drugs including cannabis, LSD and cocaine, the jury was told. The defendant said he received a message about a hit job in England from a boy he had met at a children's home while recovering from drugs. He was then added to a group chat with a Foxtrot recruiter and senior gang member named Agent 47. Natland told the court he agreed to the job because he 'wanted some money' and 'was going to buy a lot of drugs'. He said at first he thought it might be a scam, but as the mission drew closer it dawned on him it was 'real'. 'I thought I am in a bit of a pickle here,' he added. Asked why he appeared to boast about his mission in conversations with his friends and then-girlfriend, Natland said it was because he 'didn't want anyone to think I was a pussy'. 'I wanted these people to think I was cool, to think I was someone,' he added. Natland said he was not 'a cold blooded professional hitman like Liam Neeson [from the film Taken]. I was never a career criminal back home, I have never robbed anyone. I was a drug addict.' Natland was found with £2,000 in cash in his hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Prosecuting, Alistair Richardson said: 'I'm not suggesting you are a hitman from a Hollywood movie but what you are, Mr Natland, is just the sort of person Foxtrot recruits for their killings. 'Someone who had recently been discharged from some sort of institution, somebody who can be recruited, and frankly disposed of, to undertake their murders?' Asked about the state of his mind on the eve of his arrest, Natland said he came up with 'the not very brilliant plan' to 'shoot myself in the foot and say "yo we need to get out of here"'. 'I was going to look like an idiot but desperate times call for desperate measures,' he added. 'Faced with the alternative of being shot in the head, I thought being shot in the foot is better.' Mr Richardson suggested Natland's plan was a 'lie', pointing out he never expressed fear to his friends. The defendant denied it was a lie but admitted it was 'ridiculous' and that he had 'made a lot of bad choices'. Natland has denied conspiring to murder an unknown person but has admitted possession of the two firearms and ammunition. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.