Norwegian Teen Hired by Iran-Linked Crime Network to Commit UK Murder, Say Prosecutors

Prosecutor Alistair Richardson told a jury that Johannes Natland did not care who he was supposed to kill and that ‘it was purely and simply about the money.’

A general view of the Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, in London on Sept. 26, 2024. Jack Taylor/Getty Images

A Norwegian teenager was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group linked to the Iranian regime to carry out a murder in Britain, a prosecutor told a jury on the first day of a trial in London.

Prosecutor Alistair Richardson KC told the trial at the Old Bailey in London on June 3 that Johannes Natland, who was 18 at the time, was found in possession of two handguns and 17 bullets when he was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, in the north of England, on March 19, 2025.