A teenage Norwegian hitman who flew to Britain to carry out an assassination for an Iran-linked organised crime network smiled at armed police, pretended to shoot an officer and asked “You happy Kev?” when arrested at a hotel in his boxer shorts — before officers found two loaded guns and 12 rounds of ammunition in his room.
Johannes Natland, then 18, had arrived in the UK from Stavanger two days before his arrest at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on 19 March last year, the Old Bailey has heard. Body-worn camera footage shown to a jury captured the moment officers knocked on his door at 5.15am to find the teenager answering in his underwear, appearing relaxed and joking throughout the arrest in scenes that belied the gravity of what he had allegedly come to Britain to do.
The footage showed Natland mimicking the action of firing a gun at one of the officers before they pushed him against the wall and handcuffed him. Officers brought him jeans in the corridor. He grinned throughout, directing cheerful remarks at one officer. “You happy Kev? Please say you’re happy Kev. Give me a smile Kev. You smiling?” he said. He then switched to Norwegian — “That was fun, like” — before adding in English: “Funny, eh? What the f**k is this shit?”
In his hotel room, officers found a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and 12 rounds of live ammunition, along with £2,000 in cash, a four-pack of Corona beer with two bottles empty, a large bottle of Desperados still full, two unopened Red Bulls, Marlboro cigarettes, two lighters and a vape kit.
The Old Bailey heard Natland had been expecting to be paid more than £20,000 for the job and “neither knew, nor cared” who his target was. After landing at Manchester Airport from Norway, he sent messages to his on-off girlfriend saying it “will be cool” to “finally kill someone” and that the pair should “celebrate” if he didn’t get caught.
He was allegedly recruited by the Swedish Foxtrot Network — a criminal organisation sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom for its links to the Iranian regime. The network is said to recruit children as young as 13 for operations including murder, arson and bombings, frequently targeting vulnerable youngsters.
The court heard Natland had a history of drug-induced psychotic episodes and cannabis use, as well as street-purchased oxycodone. He had been discharged from a psychiatric unit in Norway just six weeks before travelling to Britain, though experts agreed his mental state at the time of the offence was not disordered and no active psychotic symptoms had been identified from that period. A nurse who assessed him in custody found no acute mental health concerns and he was considered fit for interview.
Natland has pleaded guilty to possessing the semi-automatic pistol, revolver and ammunition but denies conspiracy to murder. The trial continues.
